Lenoir-Rhyne and Carson-Newman Advance To Championship Of Southest Regional

HICKORY, N.C. - Second-seed and No. 6 ranked Lenoir-Rhyne (43-8) and sixth-seeded Carson-Newman (41-16-1), advanced to the championship game of the 2011 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament at Bears Field.

Lenoir-Rhyne shut out the third seed, Armstrong Atlantic State, 3-0 while Carson-Newman defeated the seventh seed USC Aiken (26-18), 6-0 and then won a rematch against Armstrong Atlantic State (31-14), 8-4 to set-up the regional final.

The two South Atlantic Conference foes will square off on Sunday at 1 p.m. The "if necessary" game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in the event Carson-Newman wins the first game. The winner will advance to the Southeast Super Regional to face either North Georgia or Flagler.

Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne split the only two games they played this season on April 2. The Bears won the first game 10-2 (6 innings) and the Lady Eagles took the second contest 8-7.

Tournament Website http://www.lrbears.com/article.asp?articleID=1196

Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Armstrong Atlantic State 0

Junior Dawon Millwood (Hixson, Tenn.) picked up her second shutout in as many days for Lenoir-Rhyne to move to 26-4 on the season as she allowed just four hits while striking out two. Millwood also escaped out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth.

L-R opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. A sacrifice fly by sophomore designated player Megan Laxton (Taylorsville, N.C.) drove in freshman third baseman Haily Jarman (Wadesboro, N.C.) for the game's first run.

Jarman extended the Bears' lead to 2-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third.

The Bears rounded out the scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning on a solo home run by Rivers, her fourth round-tripper of the year. Rivers led the team with two hits on the day.

AASU's Megan Barnwell (Brooklet, Ga.) (23-8) suffered the loss despite allowing only just five hits and striking out five in the contest.

Carson-Newman 6, USC Aiken 0

The Lady Eagles stayed alive with a shutout win over the Pacers in an elimination contest.

Carson-Newman struck first in the bottom of the third inning on a double by Bri Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.).
The Eagles pushed their lead to 2-0 in the fifth frame as Shoemake drove in her second run of the game with an RBI single.

Carson-Newman broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning highlighted by a solo home run from Sara Kelley (Birchwood, Tenn.) and a two-run round-tripper by Shoemake.

Shoemake lead the way offensively as she went three-for-four and four RBI while Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) (37-14) threw a five-hit shutout.

USC Aiken's India Kornegay (Eufaula, Ala.) fell to 13-10 after suffering the loss.

Carson-Newman 8, Armstrong Atlantic State 4

The Lady Eagles moved on to the championship contest Sunday after eliminating the Pirates in the third and final game of the day. The win avenged a heart-breaking 3-2 extra-inning loss to AASU in the opening round on Friday.

Carson-Newman jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to back-to-back errors to lead off the game by the AASU defense.

The Pirates picked up three hits and took advantage of a Lady Eagle error in the top of the second to equalize the score at two runs apiece.

In the bottom of the third, the Eagles tabbed three more runs to retake the lead. Kelley highlighted the inning with a two-run double to give Carson-Newman a 5-2 advantage.

Shoemake connected on a two-run home run, her second of the day, in the fourth inning before Carson-Newman plated a single run in the fifth for an 8-2 advantage.

Armstrong Atlantic State scored twice in the seventh but could not overcome the deficit.

Shoemake led the Eagles with two hits and two runs batted in while Bailie Temples (Midland, Ga.) and Heather Walker (Peachtree City, Ga.) each finished with a pair of hits and an RBI for the Pirates despite the loss.

Shealy (38-14) was once again credited with the victory while Barnwell (23-9) took the defeat.