SALISBURY, N.C. – The 2019 Softball season came to a close on Saturday afternoon as the Bears dropped a 5-1 decision to top-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the Quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The Bears outhit LMU 11-8 but left 10 runners on base.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Finals: Lincoln Memorial 5, Lenoir-Rhyne 1
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (26-19), Lincoln Memorial (35-12)
Location: Whitley Field | Salisbury, N.C.
STATS OF THE GAME:
• The Bears got on the board first in this one, pushing across their only run of the game in the top of the first inning.
Savannah Moorefield and
Erin Boone opened the game with singles to put runners on the corners before
Kylee Leonhardt plated Moorefield with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
• The Railsplitters answered with a run in the bottom of the first on a sac fly but blew the game open with a four-run third inning that featured a pair of long balls. After a walk and a hit by pitch put two on with none out, Emma Webb hit a 3-run homer to right field and McKenzie Henry made it back-to-backers with a solo shot to left.
• The Bears had plenty of chances to come back but left runners in scoring position in every inning.
•
Erin Boone finished her outstanding career with a 3-for-4 performance. Boone will go down as LR's all-time hits and runs scored leader.
Cassie Healy added a pair of hits and eight different players recorded at least one hit in the game.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Controversial calls took a pair of runs off the board for LR in this one. Healy had a run-scoring double in the second inning but was ruled to be out of the box when she made contact, taking the run away. In the sixth, Moorefield appeared to cut the lead to 5-2 on a sacrifice fly but
Macie Gibson was ruled to have left early on her tag up and was called out on appeal. LR also had a runner thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice.
• Lincoln Memorial took all three contests against LR this season. The Railsplitters swept the regular season doubleheader by scores of 5-3 and 6-4 on April 13.
• The Bears finished under the 30-win plateau for the first time since 2003.
UP NEXT:
The Bears, who won the previous three regular season championships prior to LMU winning this year, will look to return to dominance in 2020.
