Hickory, N.C. - The No. 11 Lenoir-Rhyne University Softball Team (38-6, 11-1) split a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Newberry College (25-9, 5-5) Tuesday afternoon at Bears Field.? Newberry won the first game by a 3-2 score to snap L-R's 11-game winning streak while the Bears prevailed in the nightcap, 1-0.
Game One - Newberry 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 2
Newberry's Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.) limited L-R to just two runs while striking out 13 batters en route to the win.
Newberry opened the scoring with Jessica Reid's (Walhalla, S.C.) run-scoring single in the top of the third inning before Lenoir-Rhyne tied it on an RBI single by senior designated player Ashley Duckworth (Conover, N.C.) in its half of the fourth.
Newberry took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the fifth inning with Aissa Gatewood (North Charleston, S.C.) coming through with the game-winning, run-scoring double.
L-R cut the margin to 3-2 on an RBI sacrifice fly by junior third baseman Brandi Haithcock (Snow Camp, N.C.) in the bottom of the sixth but the Bears couldn't get any closer.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Dawon Millwood (Hixson, Tenn.) fell to 16-3 on the year and saw her seven-game winning streak snapped.? Millwood held Newberry to just three hits despite taking the loss.
Box Score
Game Two - Lenoir-Rhyne 1, Newberry 0
L-R freshman Alex Smith (Cocoa, Fla.) fired a one-hit, seven-strikeout shutout in helping the Bears force the split.? Smith improved to 15-3 on the year and threw her fourth shutout of the season.
Sophomore catcher Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.) provided the lone scoring of the game with a solo home run in the fifth inning, her seventh of the year, for the Bears.? Atkins finished with two hits in the contest.
Newberry's Huckestein (15-5) suffered the loss despite allowing just one run to go along with five strikeouts.
Box Score
Lenoir-Rhyne, who suffered its first league defeat and first home setback of the year, remains at Bears Field to face Francis Marion on Thursday beginning at 2 p.m., in a doubleheader while Newberry hosts Carson-Newman on Saturday in a SAC doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
