HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team traveled to take on the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters in a double header, but it was the Bears who dropped both by two runs, 5-3 and 6-4, on Saturday afternoon.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Finals: Lincoln Memorial 5, Lenoir-Rhyne 3; Lincoln Memorial 6, Lenoir-Rhyne 4
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (25-15, 8-7 SAC), Lincoln Memorial (31-11, 9-7 SAC)
Location: Dorothy Neely Field | Harrogate, Tenn.
STATS OF GAME ONE:
• Lenoir-Rhyne struck first with two runs in the third thanks to
Talon LaClair's line drive down the right field line to record two runs batted in. It was the Railsplitters who responded with five runs in the fourth that was good enough to put away the Bears.
• LMU was led by Allie Jones, who had the hottest bat on their team with three base hits, two RBIs and one run scored. Each bat one through four in their lineup earned at least one hit in the game.
• LaClair had two of the Bears' six hits and drove in their only runs of the ballgame, but
Erin Boone,
Kylee Leonhardt,
Mackensi Swain and
Macie Gibson each had one base knock.
• Lenoir-Rhyne started
Emily Kenley in the circle, but she did not last past the fourth inning as she took the loss to fall to 7-5 this year.
STATS OF GAME TWO:
• Lenoir-Rhyne outhit Lincoln Memorial in this one 10-7, but those are not the numbers that count when competing for a win.
Savannah Moorefield and Boone combined for five hits and four runs scored while Leonhardt and Swain drove in two each in the game.
• The Bears gave the start to
Brandi Parks, who took the loss for the road team after giving up seven hits and six runs, (three of which were earned) while LMU's Bailey Griffith managed to pick up her 11th victory of the season.
• seven of the nine LR batters earned their way on base via the base hit, while LMU was led by Emma Webb and Grace Cochran who each had two of the team's seven in the game.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• This game is the final road series for the Bears before closing out with three doubleheaders at home in the regular season.
• The South Atlantic Conference race is as close as can be, as the Bears are half a game out of first place (fifth) and half a game away from not qualifying for the conference tournament if it were held today.
• Parks combined two work 8.1 innings in two games while giving up just three earned runs on eight hits and striking out five.
UP NEXT:
The Bears return home for the final six games of the regular season, starting with a SAC double header against Wingate on Tuesday, April 13 at 3 and 5 p.m.
