Columbus, Ga. - The ninth-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team (3-1) splits its first two games Friday at the Hughston Sports Clinic Classic at Cougar Field.? L-R defeated Columbus State, 11-6, before falling to Augusta State by a 3-0 score.
Lenoir-Rhyne 11,
Columbus State 6
Sophomore shortstop Jody Mizelle (Colerain, N.C.) tied her own school single-game record with three home runs to lead the Bears to the win.
Both teams were on the offensive early as each squad scored five runs in the first inning.
Mizelle led off the game with a home run before senior catcher Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.) connected on a grand slam to stake the Bears to a 5-0 lead.
The Cougars tied the game in the bottom of the first inning capped off by a three-run home run from Taylor Turner (Savannah, Ga.).
L-R then broke the game open with another five-run inning in the third.? Mizelle hit the Bears' second grand slam of the game with two outs in the inning for a 10-5 lead.
Mizelle, who also finished with four hits and six runs batted in, led off the fifth inning with her third home run of the game.
Lenoir-Rhyne senior Dawon Millwood (Hixson, Tenn.) improved to 2-0 on the season after being credited with the win while Columbus State's Kelsey Gilliam (Macon, Ga.) fell to 0-1 after suffering the loss.
Box Score
Augusta State 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 0
The Jaguars' Heather Hughes (Tallahassee, Fla.) silenced the Bears' bats in pitching the seven-hit shutout.? Hughes also struck out two batters as Augusta State improved to 2-0 on the year.
The Jaguars opened the scoring in the fourth inning on a run-scoring sacrifice fly by Laura Brown (Martinez, Ga.) and an RBI double from Molly Walton (Morrison, Colo.).
Augusta State rounded out the scoring with a run-scoring single by Kacee Camp (Harlem, Ga.) in the top of the seventh inning.
Lenoir-Rhyne junior Megan Laxton (Taylorsville, N.C.) fell to 1-1 on the year after suffering the loss.? Atkins and senior second baseman Carlee Carpenter (Newton, N.C.) each had a pair of hits in the losing effort.
Box Score
Lenoir-Rhyne next competes against West Alabama (11:00 a.m.) and Columbus State (1:00 p.m.) on Saturday on the final day of the tournament.
