Bracket  I Ticket Information

Hickory, N.C.-- For the 15th time in program history, the Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament. The Bears are the No. 3 seed this weekend in the NCAA Southeast Regional, hosted by the No. 2 seed Wingate Bulldogs. 

The Bears will be joined by the host Bulldogs along with No. 6 seed Carson-Newman and No. 7 seed Francis Marion. The four-team, double elimination tournament will start Thursday afternoon and conclude with the winner advancing to the super regional on Saturday afternoon. The Bears will open against the Eagles on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 PM from WU Softball Complex. 

The Bears are very familiar with all three of these opponents this weekend as the Bears went a combined 4-2 against these teams this season including a doubleheader split against Carson-Newman on the last day of the regular season back on April 23.  The Bears won game one 4-2 before the Eagles held on for a 6-5 win in the night cap just 17 days ago in Hickory.  

The Eagles are lead by Freshman and Player of the Year Macauley Bailey. Bailey is the first player in the history of the SAC to win both the Freshman and Player of the Year in the same season. Bailey is currently hitting .429 with 15 Home runs and a SAC leading 67 RBIs in the first campaign in Jefferson City. 

In a fun subplot in this game is the battle between Bailey and SAC Pitcher of the Year in Morgan Beeler. Beeler will be in the circle for the Bears as the SAC major awards winners will battle for the second time this season. Beeler got the win in the Bears 4-2 win earlier this season. In that contest, Beeler went the distance allowing just two runs while striking out six. Beeler also held Bailey hitless with a 0-3 game but Bailey had a three hit game in the night cap including driving in the game-winning run in the Eagles victory in game two on April 23. 

The Eagles come into the regional hitting .341 as a team, second best in the SAC but twenty points behind the Bears as LR enters the tournament hitting at a .361 clip. After hitting 11 home runs in the SAC Tournament, the Bears have hit 71 on the season, second most in program history. Nine different players drove it over the fence during the SAC Tournament including Talon LaClair, who was named to the SAC All-Tournament Team earlier this week. LaClair hit .384 with 2 Home runs and 5 RBIs during that tournament. 

This is the second straight year these teams have played in the same regional however the teams did not face each other last year as the Eagles went 0-2 while the host Bears went 1-2 including being eliminated by Wingate. This will be the fifth matchup between the Eagles and Bears in the NCAA tournament with each team winning two so far. Whoever wins tomorrow will have the easier path to the super regional as the loser will have to win four straight games in the next two days to advance. 

The winner of the game will return to the diamond on Friday morning at 10 a.m. against the winner of No. 2 Wingate/No. 7 Francis Marion while the loser will play the loser of Wingate/Francis Marion at 1:00 p.m on Friday in an elimination game. The championship game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m on Saturday with the winner advancing the super regional next week. 


NCAA Southeast Region Softball Tournament

Thursday, May 11 (Wingate, N.C.)
1 p.m. | #2 Wingate vs. #7 Francis Marion
3:30 p.m. | #3 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. #6 Carson-Newman

Friday, May 12 (Wingate, N.C.)
10:30 a.m. | WU-FMU winner vs. LR-CN winner
1 p.m. | WU-FMU loser vs. LR-CN loser
3:30 p.m. | Loser of 11 a.m. game vs. winner of 1:30 p.m. game

Saturday, May 13 (Wingate, N.C.)
1 p.m. | Winner of Friday 11 a.m. game vs. Winner of Friday 4 p.m. game
3:30 p.m. | If Necessary game