HICKORY, N.C.  – It was a tale of two games between the Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team and the Newberry Wolves as the Bears took game one 11-7 and fell in walk-off fashion in game two, 5-4.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Finals: Lenoir-Rhyne 11, Newberry 7; Newberry 5, Lenoir-Rhyne 4
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (25-13, 8-5 SAC), Newberry (26-14, 8-8 SAC)
Location: Smith Road Complex | Newberry, S.C.

STATS OF GAME ONE:
•    Lenoir-Rhyne took the early 4-0 lead after two innings thanks to a RBI single for Kylee Leonhardt followed by a sacrifice fly for Erin Boone and a Talon LaClair double.
•    Newberry responded in the second inning with a two-RBI base hit from Chelsey Cunningham. From there the Bears outscored the Wolves 7-4 the rest of the way with three home runs from Mackensie Swain, Savannah Moorefield and Leonhardt.
•    Leonhardt led the game with four runs driven in on two hits and she scored one run while Moorefield and LaClair also had two RBIs in the game.
•    Lenoir-Rhyne started Brandi Parks, but she did not get out of the third inning, logging 2.1 innings while giving up seven hits and four runs and three walks. Emily Kenley came into the circle in relief and picked up her seventh win of the season, working 4.2 innings, scattering eight hits but giving up just two earned runs the rest of the game.

STATS OF GAME TWO:
•    Coach Shena Hollar gave Kenley the ball in the circle after getting the victory in game one, but she took the loss on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh for her fourth of the season.
•    The Bears had one hitter with a multi-hit game and that was shortstop LaClair who went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, a double and a walk. Swain hit for two RBIs while Leonhardt and Taylor Beard got one each.
•    It was Hayley Simonds who got the base hit to left field to secure the victory and salvage one game in the doubleheader for the Wolves.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
•    This doubleheader split keeps the Bears in the top spot in the South Atlantic Conference standings.
•    Beard drove in the first RBI of the season with a SAC fly in game two.
•    LaClair has been dominant at the plate all season for LR, sitting at fourth in the conference with a .415 batting average.
•    Parks, despite not getting a victory today, remains the top wins leader in the SAC with 17.
 
UP NEXT:
The Bears stay on the road this Saturday as they travel to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters at 2 and 4 p.m.