Hickory, N.C.-- With a standing room only crowd inside McCrorie Family Stadium, the Lenoir-Rhyne Softball team split a pair of games with rival Wingate on Saturday. Katelyn Rackard hit a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, as LR took game two 10-6.  Madison Primm, Alexandria Gray, Avery Kiger and Kaylee Chapman added home runs on the day.

With Wingate taking game one 8-6, the split keeps the Bulldogs one game ahead of the Bears at the top of the SAC standings 

Game One Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 6 ,Wingate 8
Game Two Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 10, Wingate 6
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (23-13, 10-4 SAC), Wingate (24-16, 13-3 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | McCrorie Family Stadium

STORY OF GAME ONE:

• Madison Primm connected on a three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the 1st to give the Bears an early 3-0 lead. 
• The Bulldogs got a run in the third then took a 4-3 lead with a three-spot in the 5th, highlighted with back to back home runs by Hali Scott and Raelynn Kramer.
• Katelyn Rackard tied the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the 5th. 
• Wingate reclaimed the lead quickly in the 6th as the Bulldogs opened the frame with back-to-back home runs for the second time this game. Wingate finished with their second straight three-run inning.
• The Bulldogs added a run in the 7th to take a 8-4 lead. 
• Alexandria Gray cut the lead down to 8-6 with a two-run home run in the 7th but Hali Scott got the last two outs to pick up the save. 
• Madison Wilson got the start and pitched 4 2/3 innings allowing four runs and striking out nine. Faith Carrigan (7-5) took the lost in the circle. 
• Wingate out hit the Bears 17-5 in the contest however Primm did have her 17th multi-hit game of the season.

STORY OF GAME TWO:

• Primm got the Bears on the board for the second straight game, hitting a two-out, two-run single to give LR a 2-0 lead after one inning. 
• After Wingate took a 3-2 lead in the third inning, LR responded with home runs from Avery Kiger and Kaylee Chapman, both two-run shots.
• With the bases loaded in the 5th inning, Rackard stepped up and crushed the ball to right center for a grand slam, her second home run of the day. 
• Kaylan Brown made a spectacular diving catch in center field to start a double play to end the game and give the Bears the split. 
• After taking the loss in relief in game one, Carrigan (8-5) got the win in the second game with a complete game victory.
• LR had nine hits in the night cap as Chapman was the only Bear with two hits in the contest. 

STATS OF THE MATCH:

• The last ten games between these teams were all hosted by Wingate as the Bears faced the Bulldogs in the regular season, conference tournament and the NCAA Tournament at Wingate last year. 
• Madison Primm's home run was the 27th of her career in just her 95th career game. 
• Gray's home run in the first game extended her hitting streak to 15 games but the streak was snapped in the second game.
• The 15-game hitting streak was the longest streak since Savannah Moorefield's program record 22 game hitting streak set in 2022. 
• Kaylee Chapman's home run was the first of her career.

UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will travel to Anderson on Tuesday afternoon for a doubleheader. It will be the first trip back to Anderson since the Bears won the SAC Tournament last season defeating the Trojans two games to none to capture the title. The Trojans split with Limestone today and are now 19-18 on the season and 5-9 in the SAC. First pitch is scheduled at 1:00 PM.