Carson-Newman, Lenoir-Rhyne Advance In NCAA Softball Tournament
HICKORY, N.C. - The seventh-seeded Carson-Newman College Lady Eagles and No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears won their respective games on Day One of the Hickory Regional of the 2009 NCAA Division II Softball Tournament Friday. The Lady Eagles and the Bears will face one another Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m.
Second-seeded USC Aiken and No. 6 Georgia College & State University will square off in the second game of Saturday's slate in the elimination bracket of the tournament with first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Game One - No. 7 Carson-Newman 6, No. 2 USC Aiken 5 (9 innings)
The No. 7 Carson-Newman College Softball Team (30-15) scored the winning run in the top of the ninth inning to defeat second-seeded USC Aiken (34-15), 6-5, in Game One of the Hickory Regional of the 2009 NCAA Division II Softball Tournament.
Carson-Newman got on the board in the top of the first when a double to left centerfield by Sarah Little (Calhoun, Ga.) scored Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) from third base.
USC Aiken equalized in the bottom of the third frame with a run of their own. Jessica Strickland (North Charleston, S.C.) belted a home run to left field to equalize the score.
After a scoreless fourth, the Lady Eagles added two runs in the top of the fifth to go up by a 5-3 margin. With Brianne Coon (Orlando, Fla.) at third base and two outs, Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.) hit a single deep to shortstop that scored Coon. Two batters later, Little singled to right field scoring Durham from second base to cap the inning's scoring for Carson-Newman.
The Pacers responded again in the bottom of the fifth with two runs to tie the game at three. With runners on second and third and one out Toni Flessate (Goose Creek, S.C.) singled to left field scoring Strickland and Megan Lakes (Columbia, S.C.).
Durham led off the top of the seventh inning for the Lady Eagles with a single to left field. Templeton then doubled to right centerfield scoring Durham. A RBI single up the middle by Little for her third hit of the day put Carson-Newman up 5-3 with only three outs remaining in regulation.
Two straight singles by USC Aiken to lead off the bottom of seventh put runners on first and second. Flessate then doubled to centerfield scoring Strickland. A groundout to second base by Whitney Clary (Newberry, S.C.) plated Jennifer Day (Pelion, S.C.) to tie the game at five, forcing extra innings.
Carson-Newman scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning. After Templeton led off the inning with a double to right center. After Little reached on an error, Whitney Kee (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled to right centerfield scoring Templeton for the run that would prove to be the game-winner.
Little and Templeton led the way for the Lady Eagles offensively as both players went three-for-five at the plate. Little drove in three runs as well for C-N. Flessate went three-for-five for USC Aiken and tallied three RBI of her own while Strickland was two-for-four.
Templeton picked up the win for Carson-Newman, moving to 10-2 on the year while Flessate fell to 18-7 with the loss.
Game Two - No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne 3, No. 6 Georgia College & State 2 (8 innings)
After four scoreless innings Georgia College got on the board in the top of the fifth. With Stephanie Lezcano (Columbus, Ga.) on third base with two outs, Kayla Smith (Lexington, S.C.) blasted a home run over the left field fence to put the Bobcats up 2-0.
Lenoir-Rhyne equalized the game at two in the bottom half of the frame. With two outs and runners on second and third, Carlee Carpenter (Newton, N.C./Bandys HS) hit a screamer down the left field line for a two-run double, scoring Heather Brock (Yadkinville, N.C.) and Brandi Haithcock (Snow Camp, N.C.) from third and second base, respectively.
After scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, the Bears and Bobcats went to extra innings. Lenoir-Rhyne forced Georgia College to leave two on base in the top half of the inning, bringing their game total to 11 stranded runners.
L-R would capitalize in the bottom half of the eighth for the game-winner. Carpenter reached safely on an error and was moved to second base by a base hit bunt by Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.). After the Bobcats were able to get two outs against the Bears, Erin Evans (Fort Pierce, Fla.) hit a walk-off single up the middle, scoring Carpenter from second on what ended up as a close play at the plate.
Evans led the way for L-R at the plate as she went two-for-four while Carpenter was one-for-three with two RBI. Sabrina Chandler (Covington, Ga.) went two-for-three at the plate for the Bobcats while Smith was one-for-three with two RBI as well.
Noel Belk (Charlotte, N.C.) picked up the win in the circle for Lenoir-Rhyne going the distance scattering five hits over eight innings to move to 16-3 on the year. Mandy Chandler (Covington, Ga.) fell to 26-14 for the Bobcats, striking out eight despite the loss.