Greeneville, Tenn. - The top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team (43-11) opened the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a 5-1 win over eighth-seeded Mars Hill (22-23) Thursday evening at Red Edmonds Field.

L-R, ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division II, will face the fifth-seeded and host school Tusculum (31-23) Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.? Tusculum defeated No. 4 Carson-Newman by a 5-1 score as well in the first round.

Senior Dawon Millwood (Hixson, Tenn.), the 2012 SAC Pitcher Of The Year, improved to 29-6 on the season after going the distance and picking up the win for the Bears.? Millwood scattered four hits while allowing one run with a pair of strikeouts.

Lenoir-Rhyne scored a single run in five of its six innings at the plate and was led by junior first baseman Jessica Fellmeth (Waxhaw, N.C.).

Fellmeth hit her team-leading 13th home run of the year in the bottom of the first inning and drove in a game-high two runs to lead the Bears.

Freshman outfielder Brittany Coursen (Virginia Beach, Va.) added a pair of hits and an RBI for Lenoir-Rhyne, who won?its sixth straight contest.

Mars Hill's lone run came in the top of the fifth inning on a run-scoring double by Natalie Haithcox (Asheboro, N.C.) while the Lions' Taylor Morris (Weddington, N.C.) fell to 12-15 with the loss.

Mars Hill faces Carson-Newman in an elimination game on Friday at 1:00 p.m., at Chuckey-Doak High School in Afton, Tennessee.