Carson-Newman, Lenoir-Rhyne Fall In NCAA Softball Regional Tournament

PEMBROKE, N.C. - Lakyn Bendle's (Amsterdam, Ohio) "suicide squeeze" with no outs in the bottom of the seventh capped a dramatic, three-run rally by Francis Marion, as the fifth-seeded Patriots knocked off top-seeded Carson-Newman 4-3 in Game 7 of the 2008 South Atlantic Regional Tournament.

Bendle bunted the first pitch she saw from C-N starter Zoe Heim (Gallatin, Tenn.), giving Nicole Reuter (Temecula, Calif.) just enough time to score the game-winning run.

Francis Marion (35-13) advances to Friday's winner's bracket final to face the winner of No. 6 North Georgia and No. 7 Armstrong Atlantic State. Carson-Newman (49-7) will face second-seeded and host UNC Pembroke on Friday at 11 a.m.

Carson-Newman jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the strength of a solo home run by junior Elisha Collins (Rutledge, Tenn.).

The blast, her fourth of the season, concluded a bizarre at bat. Collins took the previous pitch off the top of her batting helmet, but was she called for being in the strike zone, and the pitch stood as only a ball. The Rutledge, Tennessee-native promptly drove the next pitch out to left, giving the Lady Eagles the one-run lead.

Francis Marion tied the game in the bottom of the fourth.

Carson-Newman appeared to be out of the inning when Patriots' second baseman Allie Aleman (Santa Ana, Calif.) chopped a two out ground ball to C-N third baseman Mandy Stevens (Knoxville, Tenn.), but her throw sailed high, allowing Michaela Wolf (Littleton, Colo.) to score from first.

The Lady Eagles bounced back with two unearned runs in the top of the sixth to grab a 3-1 lead. Stevens and first baseman Sara Little (Calhoun, Ga.) each delivered two-out, RBI singles to move C-N ahead.

Stevens, a senior, laced a line drive to left scoring centerfielder Whitney Kee (Knoxville, Tenn.) to retake the lead. Little followed by delivering a line drive right back up the box, her first hit of the game. The hit plated pinch runner Amber Hewitt (Ringgold, Ga.), who was running for Whitney Hickam (Knoxville, Tenn.). Hickam reach

Francis Marion threatened again in the bottom of the fifth.

Heim hit lead-off batter Jessie Alesi (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) with her first pitch of the inning. After a sacrifice bunt moved Alesi up a bag, shortstop Shannan Tyson (Seminole, Fla.) drilled a line drive to Kee, who had her played perfectly, and doubled up a leaning Alesi for the inning-ending double play.

Francis Marion's Kat Beauvais (Manassas, Va.) started the game-winning rally in the Patriots' final at-bat, driving a ball down the third-base line and beating out Steven's throw to first. After a single by Alesi made it runners on first and second with no outs, Reuter came in to pinch hit and drove a deep ball over the head of centerfielder Kee to score Beauvais. Shannon Tyson (Seminole, Fla.) followed with a single to bring in Alesi and tie the game.

Zoe Heim took the loss for Carson-Newman, falling to 31-6 on the year.

UNC Pembroke 4, Lenoir-Rhyne 0

PEMBROKE - Second-seeded UNCP rallied for a pair of runs in each of the first and sixth innings behind five innings of scoreless pitching from Whitney Landwermeyer to oust third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne from the NCAA South Atlantic Regional with a 4-0 victory over the Bears on Thursday afternoon at LRA Field.

The win kept the 13th-ranked Braves (45-13) alive in the hunt for their first NCAA Regional Championship, while also avenging a pair of 8-0 losses to the 20th ranked Bears (42-14) earlier this season in Hickory. The Black & Gold will advance through to Friday's 11:30 a.m. elimination contest against the loser of Thursday afternoon's tilt between top-seeded Carson Newman (47-6) and fifth-seeded Francis Marion (34-13). First pitch of that contest has been set for 11 a.m.

Candace Evans singled twice and drove in three runs on three trips to the plate to pace the offense for UNCP, with Jelena Shaw doubling in a run and crossing the plate twice on an equally impressive 2-for-3 hitting line. Brittany Berrier also tallied a pair of runs scored on a 1-for-4 hitting line. Leah Krohn doubled and singled in three plate appearances for Lenoir-Rhyne, who also got a 2-for-3 day from Michelle Smith.

Landwermeyer (9-5) struck out four and scattered as many hits over five innings of work to pick up the victory for the Braves, with Martika Elmore finishing out the contest with four strikeouts in two scoreless innings of relief. Lenoir-Rhyne starter Meredith O'Connor (30-11), who notched both victories against the Braves in March, struck out seven over a complete game on Thursday but saddled the loss after yielding four runs on seven hits.

"We've had great depth at the pitcher position all year long," said UNCP head coach Steve Johnson. "Martika (Elmore) got a lot of awards but Whitney (Landwermeyer) and Candace (Evans) accounted for a lot of wins for us. It's nice when your No. 2 pitcher can give you five strong innings and then bring in your No. 1 to close it out."

UNCP got on the board quickly, using a leadoff bunt single by Berrier, a RBI double by Shaw and an ensuing run-scoring single by Evans to take a 2-0 lead into the second. The score would hold up until the sixth when Evans would drive in two more runs on a seeing-eye single through the right side.