HICKORY, N.C. – A game after celebrating Head Coach Shena Hollar's 800th win at Lenoir-Rhyne, the LR Softball Team split a pair at Bears Field against Bloomsburg. The Bears dropped the opener in five innings but rallied for a 3-2 win in the nightcap.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Finals: Bloomsburg 11, Lenoir-Rhyne 1; Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Bloomsburg 2
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (15-8), Bloomsburg (4-7)
Location: Bears Field | Hickory, N.C.
STATS OF GAME ONE:
• The lone bright spot in the opener came off the bat of first basemen
Mackensi Swain who blasted a homer to center field in the fifth inning. The long ball was the team-leading fifth for the junior who also leads the team with 18 runs batted in.
• Bloomsburg put a three-spot on the board in the top of the first and added two more in the second and four in the third. For the game, the visitors pounded out 15 hits in five innings.
• The top four batters in Bloomsburg's lineup combined to go 10-for-13 with eight runs scored and six runs driven in.
• Abby Wild earned the win in the circle for Bloomsburg, tossing five innings and allowing just three hits.
STATS OF GAME TWO:
• The Bears silenced Bloomsburg's bats in the finale, allowing just six singles in the contest. The game was scoreless through four until the visitors broke the tie on a wild pitch that scored a run.
• LR was determined to break through in the bottom half of the fifth when Swain connected for a double that scored
Talon LaClair and
Savannah Moorefield. Swain would later come around to score on a wild pitch for the third run of the inning which turned out to be the game-winning run.
• Bloomsburg added a run in the top of the seventh and had the tying runner at second base before
Brandi Parks induced a foul out to the catcher to close out the game. Parks got the win in relief of
Hannah Jennings who went 4.2 innings and didn't allow an earned run. Parks gave up one run over her 2.1 innings and struck out three.
• Swain finished the game by going 2-for-3 and was the lone Bear to record a multi-hit game. Moorefield, LaClair and
Kendall Osborne each reached base multiple times as LR worked seven walks in the contest.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• The Bears went 15-8 in non-conference play and will now look ahead to South Atlantic Conference play starting this week.
• Lenoir-Rhyne is now 8-4 in home games on the season.
UP NEXT:
LR hits the road for a SAC doubleheader in Hartsville, S.C. when they travel to Coker. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
