Hickory, N.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne (43-8) and Carson-Newman (41-16-1) have advanced to the championship of the 2011 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament at Bears Field.? The two South Atlantic Conference squads will play Sunday at 1 p.m.
On Saturday, sixth-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne shut out Armstrong Atlantic State (31-14) by a 3-0 score before Carson-Newman defeated USC Aiken (6-0) and AASU (8-4) to move on to the championship game.? USC Aiken ends the season with a 26-18 record.
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.
Box Score
QUOTES
Lenoir-Rhyne Head Coach Shena Hollar
"It was a good game today, I think, on both sides. We just got more runs than they did. They had opportunities and didn't get any and we had our opportunities and put three on the board.? That's the difference in the game."?
(On the team's?third consecutive shutout)
"I think that comes from good pitching and good defense. We had two errors yesterday but today we didn't have any. We played good defense and Dawon (Millwood) got people out.?
Armstrong Atlantic State Head Coach Ted Evans
"This game is all about details and it's all about the little things. It's not like people score 11 runs in a game with good pitching and good teams. And when you play a good team like L-R, you can't make mistakes. You've got to take advantage of your own opportunities and we just didn't do that today."
Carson-Newman 6, USC Aiken 0
The 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.
Box Score
QUOTES
Carson-Newman Head Coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield
"After yesterday's heartbreaking loss, you naturally worry a little bit. How are we gonna come out? Are we gonna come out flat or not? But we had a good warm up and I told the seniors, 'There's no tomorrow if you don't get past these seven innings.' They played hard and as a head coach I couldn't ask for any more than the play that they gave us those seven innings."
USC Aiken Head Coach Jerry Snyder
"We lost to a very good team.? To win a ball game, especially in post season, your defense has to come up with one or two exceptional plays and they did that. My hat's off to Carson-Newman. They did a great job, took it to us and did everything they needed to do. I felt that we had a better day at the plate today than we did yesterday. We put the ball in play a little more.? We just had trouble getting those timely hits and it's plagued us all year. Our pitcher (India Kornegay) did a great job for six innings and then started to run out of gas.? She's only a freshman but she's got a year's experience under her belt and we look for big things from her and the rest of the team."
Carson-Newman 8, Armstrong Atlantic State 4
The Eagles moved on to the championship contest Sunday after eliminating the Pirates in the third and final game of the day.
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 loss.
Box Score
QUOTES
Carson-Newman Head Coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield
"I'm just thrilled with our victory today.? The kids played hard.? The key today was taking good pitching.? We talked about being patient.? Pitch selection is so critical. Mary (Shealy), again, scattered hits and did?not walk people.? She's pitched two games today and hasn't walked a batter and, in softball, when you walk a batter, nine out of ten times, that equals a run. Defensively, we got a hold of some balls in the outfield. The defense was there at times, that was critical for us.? Again, I'm thrilled any time you beat a Peach Belt team, it's big and we're thrilled that we have two South Atlantic Conference teams playing tomorrow."
Armstrong Atlantic State Head Coach Ted Evans
"I told our kids that they were going to have to want it and want it more than Carson-Newman did. And when they came out on the field you could tell that they really wanted this game bad. I don't know that we responded well to our loss earlier today and when you get to this point in the season you have to come out and put a loss behind you in order to keep playing. We're a one-pitcher team, but I thought Duff (Shelby Duff) pitched very well in relief. It's the best she's pitched in two months."
