HICKORY, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end as they were swept by South Atlantic Conference foe Carson-Newman on Saturday afternoon. The Bears had a tremendous rally in game two but left the bases loaded in a 6-5 loss.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Finals: Carson-Newman 10, Lenoir-Rhyne 4; Carson-Newman 6, Lenoir-Rhyne 5
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (24-12, 7-4 SAC), Carson-Newman (20-7, 7-7 SAC)
Location: Bears Field | Hickory, N.C.
STATS OF GAME ONE:
• After an Eagles 3-run homer gave the visitors an early lead,
Kylee Leonhardt doubled to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning.
• Unfortunately, the Eagles would pull away with seven unanswered runs. The Eagles scored three in the fourth and four more in the fifth to take the advantage.
• With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, sophomore
Talon LaClair crushed a 2-run bomb just inside the foul pole for her third homer of the season.
• The number two and three hitters for Carson-Newman combined to drive in seven runs and CF Lacie Rinus scored three times from the leadoff spot. LaClair finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
STATS OF GAME TWO:
• Game two was a tough one for the Bears who ran out to a 3-0 advantage. Leonhardt crushed a solo shot to left field in the second and LaClair drove in one more with a triple off the center field fence in the third. LaClair would come around to score on a Leonhardt RBI, her fourth run driven in on the day, as the Bears grabbed the early advantage.
• The Eagles had the answer in the late innings, plating six runs in their final two at-bats. In the sixth, C-N struck for a solo shot and then a 3-run bomb from Ashlyn Cooper to grab their first lead of the game at 4-3. In the seventh, the Eagles added two more insurance runs which proved to be huge as LR mounted a late rally.
•
Savannah Moorefield led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and came around to score on Leonhardt's fifth RBI of the afternoon. With the score 6-4, the Bears had the bases loaded for
Mackensi Swain who delivered another run-scoring single. The bases remained packed with one out but Rager retired the final two batters to earn her 11th win of the season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• LaClair had an unreal three-game stretch that saw her go 9-for-10 including the final two games of the Queens doubleheader and game one today. In game two, she went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.
• Boone drew six walks in the two games and scored three runs.
• The Bears were sloppy defensively, committing six errors in the two games which led to four unearned runs.
• Despite the sweep, Lenoir-Rhyne remains in sole possession of first place. The Bears are half-a-game ahead of Queens.
UP NEXT:
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Newberry for a 2 p.m. doubleheader. Currently, Newberry sits in third place in the league standings, 1.5 games behind LR.
