Catawba, Carson-Newman, Newberry Advance In Food Lion SAC Softball Tournament

HICKORY, N.C. -- Junior Allie Marshall (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the seventh as Catawba rallied for a 5-3 win over top-seeded Wingate at the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament on Friday afternoon at Bears Field on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University. With the win, fifth-seeded Catawba improves to 25-17 and advances to face sixth-seeded Carson-Newman on Saturday as the only two remaining unbeaten teams. Wingate falls to 29-12-1 and faces Mars Hill in an elimination game on Friday afternoon.

The Catawba Indians entered the final inning down 3-1. Junior Callie Gordy (Oak Ridge, N.C.) singled and junior Kathryn Geouge (Canton, N.C.) drew a walk to get the tying runs on base. After a strikeout, junior Carly Sabat (Howland, Ohio) hit a groundball to short that was mishandled and Gordy beat the throw to third. Marshall stepped in and hit a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence to put the Lady Indians up 5-3.

Wingate got the tying runs on base in the seventh on a one-out single by junior LaRonda McClain (Kings Mountain, N.C.) and a two-out walk to junior Debra Grijalva (San Jose, Calif.). Catawba's Chelsea Wallace (Danville, Ky.) got junior Leylie Myers (Marietta, Ga.) on a groundout to Marshall at second to end the contest.

Wallace pitched an inning and two-thirds to pick up the win and improve to 10-3. She allowed two hits, walked one and had one strikeout. Catawba had six hits on the day and benefited from four Bulldog errors. Marshall and Geouge each had two hits for the Lady Indians.

Catawba broke a scoreless tie in the third. Geouge singled with one out and stole second. She scored when Sabat's ground ball was misplayed with two outs. Wingate used a pair of Catawba miscues to take the lead in the fifth. Senior Heather Winchester (Waxhaw, N.C.) struck out to leadoff the inning, but reached on a wild pitch. A sacrifice and groundout moved her to third where she scored on a bunt single by McClain. After an error, Grijalva singled home McClain for a 2-1 Wingate lead.

Wingate extended its lead in the sixth, stringing together three straight one-out hits. Sophomore Emily Chavis (Berkeley Lake, Ga.) doubled, senior Jamie Millen (Monroe, N.C.) singled and Winchester singled to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 edge before Catawba rallied in the seventh.

McClain, Chavis and senior Hallie Pettigrew (Uniontown, Ohio) all had two hits for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Allison Smith (Daleville, Va.) took the loss for Wingate. She went the distance with none of the runs against her earned. She struck out eight.

Wingate 4, Mars Hill 2

HICKORY, N.C. -- The top-seeded Wingate softball team avenged a regular season sweep by the Lions and defeated third-seed Mars Hill, 4-2, in the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The Bulldogs improve to 30-12-1. Mars Hill ends its season at 26-19.

Wingate struck first in the second inning. Jamie Millen (Monroe, N.C.) scored off a RBI single up the middle by Julie Broyer (Hollister, Calif.) to give Wingate a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs increased their lead in the third inning. Leyila Myers (Marietta, Ga.) singled to center field, plating Emily Chavis (Berkeley Lake, Ga.) to increase the margin to 2-0.

Wingate doubled its lead in the fourth inning. Broyer scored off a RBI single by Debra Grijalva (San Jose, Calif.). Later in the inning, Hallie Pettigrew (Uniontown, Ohio) scored on a wild pitch by Tara West (Urbana, Ohio).

Mars Hill tried to rally in the fifth inning. A Rebekah Huff (Mars Hill, N.C.) single to right center followed a Lindsey Barrier (Salisbury, N.C.) walk to give the Lions runners on first and second with two outs. In the next at-bat, Ashley Angell (Winston-Salem, N.C.) hit a weak ball straight to Brittany Blankenship (Midlothian, Va.), but a wild throw to first base allowed Barrier and Huff to score on the play. However, Mars Hill would get no closer as Ashley Seawell (Asheboro, N.C.) grounded out to end the threat.

Blankenship, now 17-7, earned the win for the Bulldogs. She threw five innings and allowed two unearned runs on three hits.

Allison Smith (Daleville, Va.) picked up her first save of the season. She gave up no runs on one hit in two innings.

West, now 9-10, suffered the loss for the Lions. She allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits in three and one-third innings.

Wingate will next play Saturday against the winner of tonight's Lenoir-Rhyne/Newberry winner. First pitch is set for Noon.

Newberry 6, Brevard 4

HICKORY, N.C. -- A two-run home run in the top of the seventh by first-team All-SAC selection Kat Hammond helped fourth-seeded Newberry eliminate eighth-seeded Brevard from the 2009 Food Lion All-SAC on Friday afternoon, 6-4.

Kristen Hicks (12-10) picked up the win for Newberry (30-15), going four and a third innings, striking out five. Liz Houser (10-12) took the loss for the Tornados (17-27), going five innings, allowing three runs on two hits.

The scarlet and gray got on the board in the fourth, plating three runs on two hits. Amanda Huckestein drove a double out to centerfield scoring Sara Powell from first to plate the first run of the inning. A single by Courtney Flach scored Huckestein and Whitney Wiles, but Richelle Mirabal was caught in a rundown and tagged out by the BC first baseman to end the inning.

Newberry pushed across another run in the fifth as Aissa Gatewood sacrificed in Jessica Teague to put the lead at 4-0.

The Tornados mounted a comeback in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases against Hicks with one out. Huckestein, the SAC Pitcher of the Year, and recorded an out before an error in the infield scored all three Brevard runners on base to put the game at 4-3.

In the top of the seventh, Hammond provided some insurance runs, driving in Amy Jarrell with her blast on a pitch up around her eyes over the centerfield fence.

Brevard loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning, scoring once when Kasey Fagan was brushed by a Huckestein offering, bringing home Becca Curlee. A grounder by Katie Thornburg, however, ended the game in favor of the scarlet and gray.

Newberry advances to face Lenoir-Rhyne in game 10 of the SAC Tournament, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Carson-Newman 10, Lenoir-Rhyne 1

HICKORY, N.C. - Sixth-seeded Carson-Newman advanced to the winner's bracket final of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament with a 10-1 victory over second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Friday afternoon at Bears Field.

With the win, C-N (27-15) advances to Saturday's winner's bracket final and will face the winner of the No. 5 Catawba/No. 1 Wingate matchup at 2:30 p.m. Lenoir-Rhyne (35-10) will meet the loser of the Catawba/Wingatet matchup Friday at 6:30 p.m.

The Lady Eagles pounded out 12 hits on the day and received another solid performance from starting hurler Stephanie Templeton (8-2) (Ringgold, Ga.). The junior right-hander surrendered one run on seven hits and had one strikeout in seven innings of work to earn the win. Templeton has allowed just one run on 10 hits in 14 innings during the tournament.

Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs to lead the Lady Eagles. Templeton tallied two hits, including a home run, while Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Amber Palmer (Kennesaw, Ga.) also had two hits apiece. Templeton drove in three runs on the day, while Howard had two RBIs.

Lenoir-Rhyne collected seven hits but struggled to drive in runners as it left the bases loaded in the first inning and stranded nine runners for the game. Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.) led the way with a 2-for-3 effort for the Bears.

Bears' starting pitcher Dawon Millwood (Hixson, Tenn.) (17-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering three runs on three hits in two innings in the circle. Millwood also had three strikeouts.

The Lady Eagles grabbed a 2-0 in the top of the first inning on a two-run blast by Templeton.

Howard delivered a RBI triple in the top of the second inning to push C-N's lead to 3-0.

C-N added another run in the top of the third to take a 4-0 advantage on a run-scoring single by Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.), but this time the Bears answered in the home half of the inning.

Carlee Carpenter (Newton, N.C.) reached on a fielder's choice to start the third inning and later scored on a C-N fielding error to pull Lennoir-Rhyne to within 4-1.

However, the Bears were unable to get any closer, as the Lady Eagles added a run in the fifth on a Price single and erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach. Price, Howard, Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.) and Templeton each drove home a run for the Lady Eagles in the seventh.

Mars Hill 10, Tusculum 5

HICKORY, N.C. --- The third-seeded Mars Hill College softball team survived a torrid rally by seventh-seeded Tusculum College in the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, defeating the Pioneers 10-5 to advance into the quarterfinal round. Mars Hill improves to 26-18 on the season while Tusculum ends its campaign with a 15-33 record.

Five players picked up a hit and an RBI for the Pioneers, including Makenzie Loy's go-ahead RBI single in the first which plated Taylor MacDonald to give Tusculum an early 2-1 lead. Loy joined Rachel Hopper, Ashley Basilicato, Phlyscia Powell and Racheal Wilburn with one RBI. Holli Cadenhead (10-18) got the starting nod and went the distance for Tusculum, allowing five earned runs and striking out two Lions in seven innings of work.

Ashley Seawell paced the Lions with three hits, including a pivotal two-run home run in the fifth inning. Jade Bullins picked up two hits on the day and drove in a game-high four runs. Ashley Harber, the co-SAC Player of the Year, went 2-for-3 in the game with two runs scored, as Anna James and Hayley Brannon also had two hits for Mars Hill.

Tiffany Farthing (10-4) pitched the first three and one-thirds innings for the Lions, allowing three earned runs on five hits and striking out five. Paige Brantley entered in relief of Farthing with one out in the fourth, and hurled three and two-thirds of no-hit innings to preserve the win for Farthing.

Mars Hill opened the scoring in the top of the first when Seawell singled home Rebekah Huff to give the Lions an early 1-0 lead. Tusculum answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead, before Mars plated four runners in the third frame to reclaim the advantage on Bullins' two-run single up the middle.

Mars Hill extended the lead to 6-2 with one run in the fourth on an RBI single by James. Tusculum's bats came to life in the fourth, plating three runs on four hits to cut the margin to 6-5. The Pioneers closed the gap on three straight RBI singles by Basilicato, Powell and Wilburn before Farthing and Brantley combined to retire the final three batters of the inning to quell the rally.

The Lions stretched the lead to 8-5 on Seawell's two-run shot in the fifth, and later equaled the final margin of 10-5 when Bullins' launched a 2-1 pitch over the fence in center for a two-run home run.

Mars Hill advances to face the winner of Catawba and Wingate today at 4 p.m. Tusculum ends its season after establishing a program record with a .956 fielding percentage in its campaign. The Pioneers are expected to return 18 letter-winners next season, including current juniors Cadenhead and Wilburn.