ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson University softball team, which shares first place in the South Atlantic Conference standings with Carson-Newman, is set to welcome the Eagles to Smethers Field on Tuesday for a 2 p.m. first-pitch.

The Trojans
Anderson (29-9, 10-4 SAC) will be putting its 16-game home win streak on the line when the Trojans welcome Carson-Newman to the Electric City, with both teams looking to bounce after getting swept in their most recent league doubleheaders. Anderson dropped a twin bill at Catawba last Friday, while the Eagles were shut out twice in a pair of road losses at Wingate on Saturday.

AU senior Jessica Neidigh stands just two hits away from setting a new South Atlantic Conference record for career hits after going 13-for-22 (.591) at the plate last week. The second baseman posted a .909 slugging percentage and a .625 on-base percentage after recording two home runs, a double and 10 singles on the week. She has recorded 304 hits during her stellar career - one shy of former Carson-Newman standout Carol Zachary.

Neidigh currently leads the league in runs scored (45), hits (59) and total bases (106), and is second with a .444 batting average, while ranking third in home runs (11) and stolen bases (14), and ranking fourth with 41 RBI.

Freshman Cailah Niles continues to lead the conference with 13 home runs and 50 RBI, while ranking third in total bases with 94 and fifth with her .740 slugging percentage. The hard-hitting catcher is 10th in the league with a .378 batting average. Junior Molly Child is riding a nine-game hitting streak, while hitting .347 on the season and is tied for seventh in the league with a team-high nine doubles on the season. She is second on the team with 29 runs scored and 16 walks, while ranking third on the squad in slugging percentage (.540), hits (43) and total bases (67).

Freshman Chelsea Jones has recorded hits in nine of the last 10 games, while batting .345 on the year and ranks fifth in the league with 20 walks. Fellow freshman Carli Hurtado posted back-to-back multi-hit games at Winston-Salem State and has 14 hits over the last 13 contests. She also stayed perfect on the base paths by swiping two bases and is 13-for-13 on the season. Sophomore Courtney Czentnar is the sixth Trojan hitting above .300 on the season, with a .309 average.

Jones and sophomore Lauren Rudesheim each have 11 wins on the season, with Jones ranking fourth in the SAC with a 1.98 ERA and has recorded 94 strikeouts in 85 innings of work, while walking just 11 batters. Rudesheim has tossed three shutouts and leads the pitching staff with 11 complete games and a save in 26 appearances.

The Eagles
Carson-Newman (28-10, 10-4 SAC) was a preseason pick to finish fourth in the South Atlantic Conference - tied with Tusculum - in a poll of the league's coaches after finishing seventh in last season's conference standings with a 34-18 overall record and an 11-11 mark in the SAC.

Junior Elayna Siebert earned Preseason All-Conference Second-Team accolades, after hitting .290 last season, with 45 hits, three doubles, three triples and two home runs. She was third on the team in runs scored with 40. Siebert was a First-Team All-SAC selection and second team NFCA all-region pick as a utility player following her freshman season.

The Eagles are 16-2 at home this season, while posting a 12-8 mark on the road, with Wingate snapping the Eagles' seven-game win streak by blanking Carson-Newman, 8-0 and 9-0, in a pair of five-inning decisions on Saturday.

C-N leads the SAC in seven-of-12 offensive categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, hits, doubles and triples and ranks second in RBI.

The Eagles' pitching staff leads the league with 11 shutouts this season and also paces the conference by holding opponents to just a .216 batting-average-against. Freshman Lindsay Dean leads the league with a 1.75 ERA and is holding opponents to a .229 batting average. Dean earned AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week in late February, after posting a career-high nine strikeouts in the Eagles' 15-1 win over Ft. Valley State. Junior Sarah Howard was named the AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week two weeks ago, while collecting three wins for the Eagles.

Before surrendering the 17 runs to the Bulldogs, the C-N defense had allowed just three runs in its previous 38 innings, including 28 consecutive scoreless innings.

Outfielder Bre Lockett was named AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 10, after going 7-for-12 at the plate for a .583 average. Her slugging percentage in four Eagles' victories was 1.333. She earned the honor again on March 3, after going 7-for-8 at the plate as the Eagles collected four straight shutout wins over the weekend against Lees-McRae, Indiana Wesleyan and Davis & Elkins.

The Series vs. Carson-Newman
The Trojans and Eagles have met 34 times on the diamond, with Carson-Newman holding a decisive 26-8 advantage in the overall series. The Eagles claimed 24-of-25 meetings, including 19 straight, during the early 2000s, but the Trojans hold a 6-4 edge since Anderson joined the South Atlantic Conference in 2011.

The Trojans have won the last six meetings, including a 2-0 shutout victory in the 2012 South Atlantic Conference Tournament, a 4-3 win in last year's conference tourney and back-to-back sweeps of the regular-season series.

In last season's three contests, Cason was 5-for-8 at the plate with a triple and four RBI, while Rebecca Martin added four singles, a pair of walks and scored three times. Child was 4-for-11 with a home run.