April 2, 2008

Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Sweeps Newberry In South Atlantic Conference Softball Action, 3-2 And 7-3

Meredith O'Connor strikes out 18 on the day for the Bears

Hickory, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne College Softball Team (31-10, 6-2) swept Newberry College (18-16, 2-3), 3-2 and 7-3, Wednesday afternoon at Bears Field in South Atlantic Conference Action. L-R is ranked No. 25 in Division II by the NFCA Coaches’ Poll and No. 1 in the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region Poll.

Game One - Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Newberry 2 (eight innings)
The Bears got on the board in the bottom of the second when senior centerfielder Taylor Queen (Conover, N.C./St. Stephens HS) scored on a RBI single up the middle by sophomore third baseman Lauren Johnson (Chesterfield, Va./Manchester HS). L-R added another run to make the score 2-0 in the third when Queen sacrificed plating sophomore right fielder Brittany Cherry (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Carolina Forest HS).

The Lady Indians responded in the sixth to tie the game at two highlighted by a run-scoring single to left field by Richelle Mirabal (Tampa, Fla.)

With the game still tied 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth, senior catcher Karie Pushard (Harrisburg, N.C./Central Cabarrus HS) hit a walk-off single to right centerfield, scoring junior second baseman Noel Belk (Charlotte, N.C./Queens Univ.), who was placed on second base via the international tie-breaker rule.

Bear senior Meredith O'Connor (Charlotte, N.C./Appalachian State Univ.) (20-7) scattered five hits over eight innings of work, striking out 13 in the victory while Katelin Edwards (Greer, S.C) (9-10) suffered the loss for the Lady Indians.

Box Score

Game Two – Lenoir-Rhyne 7, Newberry 3
With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the third, Lenoir-Rhyne scored two runs and added another in the fourth frame to go up by a 4-1 score. The Lady Indians responded with a run of their own in the fifth before senior left fielder Jessica Luper (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill HS) hit a two-run home run left field in the bottom half of the inning to make it 6-2 in favor of L-R.

After the Bears tallied a final run in the sixth, Newberry’s Kat Hammond (Irmo, S.C.) hit a solo home run to left centerfield in the top of the seventh to make the final score 7-3.

Belk, Queen and senior first baseman Leah Krohn (Taylorsville, N.C./Alexander Central HS) all went three-for-four in game two to lead the Bears.

O’Connor (21-7) picked up her second win of the day striking out five while Newberry’s Jesse Groves (Suwanee, Ga.) fell to 2-2 with the loss.

Box Score

Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Greenville, Tenn., on Saturday to face Tusculum in a SAC doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.