Lenoir-Rhyne Pounds Augusta State In NCAA Softball Regional, 16-4

May 15, 2010

HICKORY, N.C. - Second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University Softball Team (52-7) took advantage of four home runs Saturday afternoon as it defeated No. 3 seed Augusta State University (39-16) by a 16-4 score at Bears Field in NCAA Division II Southeast Regional play. With the victory, the Bears advance to the finals of the tournament on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., while the Jaguars will take on the winner of the Mars Hill - Armstrong Atlantic State contest scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Saturday evening.

Lenoir-Rhyne got out to a hot start in the top of the first scoring two runs. With runners on first and second, sophomore catcher Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.) reached on an attempted sacrifice bunt and was safe due to a throwing error by the third baseman. Senior left fielder Brittany Cherry (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) scored on the play.

The Bears made it 2-0 on the next at bat as junior shortstop Kat Rivers (Royston, Ga.) doubled to right centerfield, scoring sophomore second baseman Carlee Carpenter (Newton, N.C.).

Augusta State responded in the bottom of the first inning. Senior catcher Alysha Krier (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) blasted a home run to left centerfield that cleared the scoreboard, making the score 2-1. The round-tripper was Krier's third of the 2010 campaign.

Lenoir-Rhyne loaded the bases in the top of the second inning. Atkins lined a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence for her 13th home run of the season, giving the Bears a 6-1 lead.

L-R added two runs in the third inning. With two outs and one on, Rivers hit her 20thh home run of the season to take an 8-1 lead.

With two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the third inning, sophomore right fielder Kristen Jones tagged a three-run homer to left field for her team-leading 13th of the season, closing the gap to 8-4.

The Bears added three more runs in the top of the fifth to lead 11-4. With two on, Atkins connected on her second home run of the day as she hit a towering drive to right centerfield.

Lenoir-Rhyne tacked on five runs in the top of the seventh to make the final margin 16-4. Cherry hit a two-run home run to right centerfield for her 10th round-tripper of the season.

Rivers, Cherry and Carpenter each recorded three hits on the day while Atkins was two-for-three with seven RBI.

L-R freshman Alex Smith (Cocoa, Fla.) went the distance in the circle for the Bears, allowing just seven hits and no walked batters while striking out nine for her 25th win of the season. The Jag's sophomore pitcher Sara DeMuth (Plant City, Fla.) fell to 16-9 on the year with the loss. Sophomore Emily Corish (Savannah, Ga.) pitched five innings in relief for Augusta State, striking out four.

QUOTES

Lenoir-Rhyne Head Coach Shena Hollar:
"We hit the ball like crazy today. I think we might have had one bad inning and that might have been my fault because I was going to pitch around her and first pitch she hits it a long way. We probably should have walked her. I thought we played really well today."

(on getting an early lead):
"I think it takes some pressure off. We did it in the conference tournament, scoring some runs early and making them have to respond. They did in the first but not really in the rest of the game. When you get ahead big, you can relax a little bit, but you don't want to go flat."

(on tomorrow's game):
"We just want to play one tomorrow. It might be hard to beat us twice though. We've got one pitcher that hasn't thrown at all this weekend so we are fresher than somebody like Augusta State who used so many pitchers and still has to play again tonight. I feel good about going into tomorrow and whoever we get to play."

Sophomore catcher Sarah Atkins (on hitting the ball well this weekend):
"I am seeing the ball really well. I was seeing it well this past week at practice. I've been getting up there not thinking about it and having fun and trying to swing hard. It feels good to hit the ball a long way."

(on having to win just one game tomorrow to advance to Super Regionals):
"It takes the pressure off of us, they're the ones who know they have to win twice. If we play like we did today with the level of communication and hitting and pitching like we did, it will be hard to beat us."

Junior shortstop Kat Rivers (on the team's level of confidence):
"We keep telling ourselves 'don't get satisfied, don't get satisfied.' I looked up at the scoreboard a couple of times during the game and saw where we had eight runs and saw where we were putting runs up but had missed a couple innings. I didn't want to say anything because I'm a little superstitious but we play well together like we are a big family."

(on tomorrow's game):
"We play like we did today and the way we finished the South Atlantic Conference Tournament against Carson-Newman, I don't think anybody is going to beat us twice."

Augusta State Head Coach Melissa Mullins:
"We knew Lenoir-Rhyne was a good hitting team so that was no surprise that they would get hits and score runs. We did not have our best pitching performance today and I think that played a big factor. We let them score a few runs and got down and their early lead kind of set the tone."

(on the free bases given early in the game):
"We sure did. We talked about it in our team huddle that we gave them a lot of free stuff with the walks and the hit batters. The two innings that we got the leadoff batter out they didn't score. That's key to get the first out. At this level in the NCAA Tournament you can't give anything out free, everything has to be earned."

(on facing either Mars Hill or Armstrong Atlantic State this evening):
"If we play our best and play up to our potential one it's more enjoyable and two we don't lose near as many games. We have to remember that from here on out it's do-or-die, it's not just tournament ending, it's season ending. Not to put pressure on the girls, but we have to pitch our best because we didn't hit poorly against L-R, it was our defense that was a factor. I think we're hitting fine right now."

Senior catcher Alysha Krier (on responding to a 8-1 L-R lead):
"You have to play inning by inning. You have to play in the moment and not worry about scoring every run you need immediately. We had a hard time staying in the moment and playing to our potential. We need to not allow ourselves to be beaten before the game is over. We have to do our jobs and bounce back."

(on the impact of the three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning):
"I was hoping it would give us a little fire and get us going. Our team needs somebody to step up and get us going and we were hoping to have that. You do what you have to do and I'm trying to be a leader as a senior to help us do what we need to do to win."

(on playing later this evening):
"We have to play our best from the first pitch to the last pitch. It's not over until it's over and we have to remember that.