Hartsville, S.C. – For the second straight game, the Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team (46-9) won a 2017 South Atlantic Conference Championship game with a walk-off home run as the Bears downed Newberry (32-15), 3-2, Friday morning at Byerly Park.

Junior third baseman Mackenzie Cates (Efland, N.C.) hit a walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for the Bears, ranked No. 13 in NCAA Division II and the second seed in the league tournament.  The Wolves are seeded third.

Lenoir-Rhyne continues in the winner's bracket and will face top-seeded Carson-Newman (41-11) Saturday at 2:30 p.m.  The Eagles defeated Coker (38-16) by an 11-3 score in six innings Friday afternoon.  Carson-Newman and LR shared the 2017 SAC Regular Season Championship.

Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore Brandi Parks (Roaring River, N.C.) improved to 21-2 on the year after earning the win in relief while senior outfielder Dakota Keller (Mooresboro, N.C.) hit a two-run home run for the Bears as well.  Parks allowed just one unearned run in seven innings while striking out three batters.

For Newberry, Christina Linton (Odessa, Fla.) scored both of the Wolves' runs while Devon Morrison (Tampa, Fla.) fell to 19-6 on the year despite going the distance.