Jefferson City, Tenn. - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Softball Team (41-8) shut out Catawba College (32-19), 8-0, in five innings to win the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Lady Eagles Softball Complex.?
L-R, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, won its second straight league tournament and sixth overall.? The Bears also won the tournament in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2010.? L-R was the top seed in this year's tournament while Catawba was seeded third.
In addition, the Bears received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament, which begins on Friday, May 13.?
Lenoir-Rhyne scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back.
L-R sophomore first baseman Jessica Fellmeth (Waxhaw, N.C.) opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI single before senior outfielder Brandi Haithcock (Snow Camp, N.C.) added a two-run single with two outs in the opening frame.
Lenoir-Rhyne scored single runs in the second and third innings, respectively, when senior shortstop Kat Rivers (Royston, Ga.) came through with an RBI single and Fellmeth scored on a passed ball.
The Bears then closed out the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to run-rule the Indians.? Fellmeth drove in two with a double while junior catcher Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.) added an RBI single.
Fellmeth led Lenoir-Rhyne with three hits and three runs batted in while Atkins and Rivers finished with two hits and one RBI each to lead the Bears' 13-hit attack.
L-R junior Dawon Millwood (Hixson, Tenn.), the 2011 league pitcher of the year, improved to 24-4 with the win.? Millwood, who escaped a bases-loaded, first-inning jam, allowed just four hits while striking out four.
Catawba's Emily Huneycutt (Locust, N.C.) fell to 18-10 with the loss while Carly Sabat (Warren, Ohio) led the Indians with a pair of hits despite the setback.
Lenoir-Rhyne Head Coach Shena Hollar on winning second straight championship:
?We set goals at the first of the year and this is one of them. There are a couple more that we are trying to achieve. They played well today.?
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Lenoir-Rhyne Head Coach Shena Hollar on starting pitcher Dawon Millwood:
?She threw really well (on Friday), and you don?t know what you are going to get after a really good day. The first inning I think she was just nervous, but we played good defense and got out of it. She settled, and once she settled down we began to control the game.?
