Lenoir-Rhyne, Catawba Reach SAC Softball Championship Title Game

No. 7 Wingate 5, No. 8 Lincoln Memorial 1

SALISBURY, N.C.— Wingate eliminated Lincoln Memorial from the 2013 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship with a 5-1 victory Saturday morning at Whitley Field.

Stacey Houser tossed her third-consecutive complete game in the tournament for the Bulldogs to earn the victory. Brittany Loudermilt drove in two runs for WU. Danae Reed's solo homer accounted for Lincoln Memorial's run. Wingate advances to face Mars Hill or Tusculumm today, with first pitch tentatively scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Whitley Field. Lincoln Memorial concludes its season 30-22.

Wingate wasted no time breaking through in the top of the first. A leadoff triple by Kelsey Maffucci put the Bulldogs in business, and Loudermilt ripped a single through the middle to get WU on the board. An RBI-single by Hayley Whitley gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

Play was suspended for the day due to weather, with WU holding a 2-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the second. Play was resumed Saturday morning.

LMU loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second on a pair of walks and an Ashley Hanes single, but Houser was able to get out of trouble. Houser scattered six hits and struck out three to improve to 22-11 overall and 2-1 in the SAC Tournament.

The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the top of the third. An intentional walk to Maffucci and an infield single by Shannen Adams put two on with one out. Loudermilt split the left-center gap with a single to make the score 3-0. Kirstin Toole came on in relief to get the Railsplitters out of the jam.

A two-out rally helped WU add another run in the fourth. Kayla Saliga drew a walk and advanced to third on a single by. Maffucci came through with an RBI single to score a run to make the score 4-0.

Back-to-back doubles by Whitley and Alexis Burrell gave the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead in the top of the seventh. Whitley notched three hits in the game for WU.

Reed's solo blast got the Railsplitters on the board in their last at-bat. The homer gave Reed three home runs in the SAC Tournament. Reed had three homers this season prior to the tournament. LMU put two more runners on with two out before Houser was able to record the final out.

No. 6 Mars Hill 2, No. 1 Tusculum 0

SALISBURY, N.C.— Sixth-seeded Mars Hill upset top-seed Tusculum 2-0 to stay alive in the 2013 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship Saturday morning at Whitley Field.

Jamie Hockaday supplied the offense for the Lions with a two-run homer and went 2-3 at the plate. Taylor Morris pitched a complete game to earn her second-straight victory. Alix Kruel had two hits and reached base safely in all three plate appearances for Tusculum. Mars Hill advances to play Wingate at 12:30 p.m. in another elimination game. Tusculum concludes the tournament with a 31-19 overall record.

Mars Hill mounted the first scoring threat of the game, loading the bases on singles by Hockaday, Morris and Shaundee Woosley. Tusculum pitcher Kelly King kept the Lions off the board, striking out one and inducing a groundout.

The Pioneers put a pair of runners on the top of the third with a walk by Kruel and infield single by Carolyn Williamson, but Morris worked out of trouble with a strikeout and groundout.

A two-out rally got the Lions on the board in the top of the third. Robyn Stanek singled through the middle before Hockaday launched a two-run bomb to center. The homer was the junior’s fourth of the season.

The Pioneers mounted a rally in the seventh, putting two on with one out. Morris once again worked out of the jam inducing a fielder’s choice groundout and catching a pop up for the final out. Morris scattered seven hits, walked one and struck out five to improve to 13-5 on the season. 

No. 7 Wingate 6, No. 6 Mars Hill 1

SALISBURY, N.C.— Wingate scored six-unanswered runs to eliminate Mars Hill from the 2013 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship with a 6-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Whitley Field.

After falling behind 1-0, the Bulldogs scored six runs between the third and fifth innings to stay alive in the tournament. Taylor Laskey and Emily Usiak each drove in two runs to pace WU, while Stacey Houser tossed a complete game to win her third game of the SAC Championship. Wingate advances to face the loser of the Catawba/Lenoir-Rhyne matchup. Mars Hill is eliminated from the tournament and concludes their season 26-16.

Ashley McCurry led off the game with a triple for Mars Hill, but Houser was able to get out of trouble by inducing a pair of groundouts and a flyout.

The Lions broke through in the top of third. Back-to-back singles by Brittany Gibson and Robyn Stanek put runners at the corners with one out. MHC executed the double-steal, with Gibson sliding into home safely to make the score 1-0.

Wingate answered in the bottom half of the inning. Kayla Saliga led off with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Kasey Pendley. After an infield single by Kelsey Maffucci, Shannen Adams scored the runner from third with a groundout to tie the score.

The Bulldogs took advantage of some sloppy Lion defense to take the lead in the fourth. Back-to-back errors and a sacrifice bunt by Laskey put runners on second and third with one out. Usiak cleared the bases with a double off the fence in left to give WU a 3-1 lead.

A three-run fifth blew the game open, with all runs scoring with two outs. An RBI-single for Burrell extended the Bulldog lead to three. Laskey followed by clearing the bases with a two-run double to make the score 6-1.

Houser tossed her fourth-consecutive complete game to improve to 3-1 in the tournament. The freshman scattered seven hits, walked one and struck out two.

No. 5 Catawba 2, No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne 1

SALISBURY, N.C.— Two early runs and another complete game by Carley Tysinger gave Catawba a 2-1 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne and a berth in the 2013 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship game.

The Indians scored single runs in each of the first two innings and Tysinger pitched a complete game to earn her third-consecutive victory in the tournament. Holli Chandler picked up an RBI for Catawba. Lauren Elder had Lenoir-Rhyne's lone RBI. Catawba advances to tomorrow's championship game, which will be held at Whitley Park at 1:00 p.m. Lenoir-Rhyne will face Wingate in an elimination game this evening to determine who the Indians will face in the championship round.

Amanda Terry continued her hot hitting in the SAC Championship with a leadoff double to open the top of the first. Terry came into score after Chandler laid down a bunt single and the resulting throw sailed wide of first. Chandler advanced to third on a sac bunt, but L-R pitcher Maryann Hoskins kept the Indians at 1-0 with a pair of strikeouts to close out the inning.

The Indians added another run in the second. Kelsey Burgess doubled with one out and moved to third on a groundout by Gina Gerone. Burgess came in to score on a dropped pop up with two out to make the score 2-0.

Tysinger struck out the side in the second, while fellow First Team All-SAC member Hoskins did the same in the top of the third.

The Bears broke through in the bottom of the third. Brittany Coursen reached on an error with one out and advanced to third on a single up the middle by Jody Mizelle. A sacrifice fly by Elder scored Coursen from third to cut the Catawba lead to 2-1.

L-R threatened in the fourth, putting runners on first and second with one out but Chelsey Long was caught stealing at third and Tysinger recorded a strikeout to get out of the jam.

Gerone led off the fifth with a double down the right field line for the Indians, but Brandi Hole came on in relief and was able to strand the runner. Hoskins concluded her outing with an earned run allowed on five hits in four-plus innings pitched. The freshman struck out five.

Tysinger struck out nine to improve to 3-0 in the SAC Championship. The SAC Pitcher of the Year allowed four hits and an unearned run to improve to 25-8 on the season.

Jessica Fellmeth had two hits for L-R.

No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne 2, No. 7 Wingate 0 (8 innings)

SALISBURY, N.C.— Three-seed Lenoir-Rhyne prevailed 2-0 over seventh-seeded Wingate in an eight-inning pitcher's duel to advance to the 2013 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship.

The Bears scored two runs in the eighth on an Ashley Oliver sacrifice fly and RBI-groundout by Megan Laxton as starting pitcher Brandi Hole outlasted WU counterpart Stacey Houser. Hole allowed just two hits and struck out four to pick up her first win of the SAC Championship. Lenoir-Rhyne will face Catawba in tomorrow's SAC Softball Championship at 1:00 p.m. at Whitley Field. The Bulldogs saw their underdog run spoiled and conclude the tournament with a 32-20-1 overall record.

L-R threatened in the first with back-to-back singles with two outs, but Houser recorded a strikeout to keep the game scoreless.

The Bears mounted a rally in fifth as well, but were unable to push across a run. A double by Megan Laxton and single by Brittany Coursen put runners at the corners, but Houser got of trouble by inducing a pair of groundouts.

Wingate mounted their first serious threat in the fifth. Emily Usiak and Kayla Saliga coaxed back-to-back walks with one out, but a backpedaling catch by L-R shortstop Chelsey Long and a groundout got the Bears out of the inning.

A defensive play by WU right fielder Kelsey Maffucci may have saved a run in the top of the sixth. Jessica Fellmeth drove a ball off the fence in right center that appeared to be ticketed for extra bases, but a nice read and strong throw by Maffucci held the L-R first-baseman to a single. A double down the left field line by Oliver moved Fellmeth to third, but both runners were stranded.

WU nearly pushed across a run in their half of the sixth. After a bunt single by Shannen Adams, Brittany Loudermilt reached on another bunt. Both runners moved into scoring position after a sacrifice by Haley Whitley. After a Hole strikeout, Taylor Laskey jerked a line drive to left that looked to be a three-run homer off the bat, but curved just foul. Hole retired Laskey on a groundout to end the threat.

Back-to-back singles by Lauren Elder and Fellmeth set up the Bears runs in the eighth. Haily Jarman's sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Oliver's sacrifice fly was just deep enough to score pinch-runner Shania Johnson, who slid in ahead of the tag to get L-R on the board. An infield single by Megan Laxton provided the final 2-0 margin.

Houser was tagged with the loss despite pitching eight-innings of nine-hit ball for the Bulldogs. The freshman tossed 40.2 innings across five games and allowed just seven runs to compile a 3-2 record in the SAC Championship.