April 9, 2008

No. 12 Lenoir-Rhyne Sweeps Mars Hill, 5-2 And 6-4, At Home Wednesday In South Atlantic Conference Action

Shortstop Kat Rivers goes five-for-seven on the day with a home run

Hickory, N.C. – The No. 12 Lenoir-Rhyne College Softball Team (35-10, 10-2) swept Mars Hill College (34-13, 5-7) in a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader, 5-2 and 6-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Bears Field. The wins put L-R in a tie for first place in the SAC standings with Carson-Newman. The Bears also hold the top spot in the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional Poll for the second straight week.

Game One – Lenoir-Rhyne 5, Mars Hill 2
L-R opened the game with two runs in the bottom of the first inning highlighted by a run-scoring double by redshirt freshman shortstop Kat Rivers (Royston, Ga./Franklin County HS). Mars Hill immediately responded with a two-run home run to left field by Ashley Seawell (Asheboro, N.C.) to tie the game at two.

The Bears scored runs in the third, fifth and sixth frames to make the final score 5-2. Rivers scored L-R’s runs in the fourth and fifth on singles by sophomore third baseman Lauren Johnson (Chesterfield, Va./Manchester HS). Senior catcher Karie Pushard (Harrisburg, N.C./Central Cabarrus HS) capped the scoring in the sixth for Lenoir-Rhyne on a sacrifice fly by that plated sophomore right fielder Brittany Cherry (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Carolina Forest HS).

Senior Meredith O’Connor (Charlotte, N.C./Appalachian State Univ.) (24-7) picked up the complete game win on the mound, scattering four hits over seven innings and striking out 10 while Tiffany Farthing (Kure Beach, N.C.) (15-4) struck out seven in the loss.

Box Score

Game Two – Lenoir-Rhyne 6, Mars Hill 4
Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first for the second time on the day as senior centerfielder Taylor Queen (Conover, N.C./St. Stephens HS) scored junior second baseman Noel Belk (Charlotte, N.C./Queens Univ.) on a single to left centerfield. Queen scored on the next play when Rivers doubled down the left field line.

Mars Hill answered in the top of the third with two runs of their own when Natalie Haithcox (Asheboro, N.C.) hit a two-run double to tie the game at two. L-R responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning on two-run home runs by Pushard and Rivers to give L-R the 6-2 lead. Rivers would finish the day five-for-seven with three doubles and a home run.

The Lions would throw a final punch in the sixth when Seawell hit her second two-run shot of the day to left field to make the final score 6-4 in favor of the Bears.

O’Connor (25-7) picked up her second win of the day, going the distance and striking out seven while Tara West (Urbana, Ohio) fell to 10-5 with the loss.

Box Score

Lenoir-Rhyne will conclude its South Atlantic Conference schedule on Saturday when it travels to Salisbury, N.C., to face Catawba in a doubleheader while Mars Hill will play host to Wingate in a twin bill.  Both contests are scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.