HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker baseball team will play host to the Eagles of Carson-Newman in a three-game South Atlantic Conference series on Friday (Mar. 14) and Saturday (Mar. 15). Live coverage of all three-games will be available at www.cokercobras.com.
The Cobras are coming off an impressive 28-0 victory over Claflin on Tuesday (Mar. 11). The win not only marked one of the highest run totals in Coker history, but it also gave head coach Dave Schmotzer his 600th victory at Coker.
A trio of hitters will lead the Cobras against the Eagles; Ernie Kirkwood, T.J. Giczkowski and Fico Kondla. The three seniors lead the Cobras in batting average, RBIs and extra base hits. Kirkwood is batting .375 with 17 RBIs, five triples and three doubles, while Giczkowski enters the weekend batting .368 with a home run, four doubles and 13 RBIs. Kondla comes into the series batting .343 with a homer, 14 RBIs and four doubles.
The three probable starters for the Cobras will be Alex Hernandez, Matthew Prosser and Ben Brown. Hernandez (1-3) enters the weekend with a 4.01 ERA, allowing 16 runs on 24 hits in 26.1 innings with 13 strikeouts. Prosser (3-2) has thrown 36.1 innings is season allowing 12 runs on 26 hits with 32 strikeouts and a 1.73 ERA. Brown (3-1) has a 2.67 ERA, allowing 19 runs on 33 hits in 33.2 innings with 16 strikeouts.
Carson-Newman (12-12, 7-8 SAC) heads to Hartsville for the first time ever having suffered their worst loss in nearly two seasons, 13-1, to Young Harris on Tuesday. Currently, the Eagles are in the middle of a 3-8 slump.
The Cobras and the Eagles will take the field on Friday at 2 p.m. Saturday's double-header will begin with game one at 12 p.m., followed by game two at 3 p.m.