Lenoir-Rhyne Wins 2007 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship

CLINTON, S.C. - Leah Krohn belted a game-winning home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne to a 4-3 victory over third-seeded Wingate in the championship game of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the PC Softball Complex.

It is Lenoir-Rhyne's fourth Food Lion SAC Softball Tournament crown and its first since the 2002 campaign.

Krohn's home run was her 16th of the season, tying her with former Wingate standout Grace Cunningham for most home runs in a single season in SAC history. Cunningham hit 16 in the 2006 season.

A first team All-SAC selection, Krohn (Taylorsville, N.C.) was one of just two Bears with multiple hits in the contest, finishing the championship game 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. The 2007 SAC Player of the Year, L-R catcher Karie Pushard (Harrisburg, N.C.) was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

Lenoir-Rhyne (48-8) scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the third stanza.

The Bulldogs would fight their way back into things over the next two innings, scoring a run in the fourth and fifth. Second team All-SAC choice Hallie Pettigrew (Uniontown, Ohio) netted the first run for Wingate when she singled to left field to plate Megan McPhail (Wade, N.C.).

McPhail and Wingate (37-20) tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning when McPhail singled to left field to score Kimee Lewis (Farmington, Utah).

The score tied 2-2 at the end of the regulation seven innings, Wingate took the lead for the first time at 3-2 in the top of the eighth when first team All-SAC selection Joy Henry (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored on an error by Lenoir-Rhyne centerfielder and first team All-SAC member Taylor Queen (Conover, N.C.).

The Bears did not want to play third-seeded Wingate twice on Sunday so they made sure to even the score at 3-3 in the bottom half of the inning on Pushard's RBI single to left center field that would score Queen.

Four different Bulldogs finished with multi-hit performances in the championship game loss with Henry leading the way in a 3-for-5 day where she scored one run.

Second team All-SAC utility player LaRonda McClain (Kings Mountain, N.C.) was 2-for-5, while Lewis and Pettigrew were also 2-for-5.

South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year Meredith O'Connor continued her mastery of SAC batters in the victory from the pitcher's circle for L-R, striking out eight en route to her 24th win of the 2007 campaign.

Wingate's Ashley Green (29-15) pitched 10.1 innings for the Bulldogs in the loss, striking out four.