Hickory, N.C. – No. 18 Lenoir-Rhyne (19-7) and Belmont Abbey (7-17) split a softball doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Bears Field. The Bears won by a 10-1 score in five innings in the first contest before falling in the nightcap, 3-1.
Game One – Lenoir-Rhyne 10,
Belmont Abbey 1 (five innings)
Lenoir-Rhyne junior catcher Sarah Kenley (Charlotte, N.C.) hit a walk-off grand slam in the fifth inning to end the game as the Bears run-ruled the Crusaders.
Kenley finished with five runs batted in while Lenoir-Rhyne took advantage of five Belmont Abbey errors in the victory. Freshman outfielder Erin Boone (Creedmoor, N.C.) and sophomore second baseman Madison Poe (Siler City, N.C.) added two hits and a run batted in each as well for the Bears.
Lenoir-Rhyne freshman Emily Kenley (Charlotte, N.C.) (2-2) went the distance and earned the win while Samantha Jacobs (Salisbury, N.C.) fell to 3-6 on the year after suffering the loss for the Crusaders.
Belmont Abbey's Selena Thompson (Portsmouth, Va.) hit a solo home run in the losing effort.
Box Score
Game Two – Belmont Abbey 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 1
Belmont Abbey scored twice in the first inning and held on for the win to salvage the split.
The Crusaders' Laura Williams (Rolesville, N.C.) had a two-run single in the frame while Sloane McPeak (Winston-Salem, N.C.) hit a solo home run later in the contest in the victory. Williams (2-4) also notched the complete game win.
For Lenoir-Rhyne, senior Maryann Hoskins (Havelock, N.C.) fell to 7-4 despite striking out 10 batters. Junior outfielder Dakota Keller (Mooresboro, N.C.) drove in the Bears' lone run in the contest.
Box Score
Lenoir-Rhyne next faces King in Bristol, Tenn., on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., in a doubleheader. Belmont Abbey plays Barton in a Conference Carolinas doubleheader in Wilson, N.C., on Friday beginning at 2:00 p.m.
