Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne To Play For Food Lion SAC Softball Title

CLINTON, S.C. - Third-seeded Wingate University advanced to the championship round of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament with a 3-1 victory over second-seeded Carson-Newman on Saturday afternoon at the PC Softball Complex.

Wingate (37-19) will face regular season champion and top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the championship round at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 22 at the PC Softball Complex. Lenoir-Rhyne reached the championship round with a 7-0 victory over Carson-Newman in the semifinals of the tournament earlier Saturday.

Wingate will have to defeat tournament undefeated Lenoir-Rhyne twice to claim the 2007 SAC Softball Tournament crown. If a second game is forced by the Bulldogs it will be played directly after the conclusion of the first game of the championship round on Sunday.

Wingate was led in the loser's bracket final victory over Carson-Newman by Megan McPhail (Wade, N.C.). The senior second baseman concluded her efforts against the Lady Eagles a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate with two runs scored and an RBI.

The Bulldogs' Joy Henry (Virginia Beach, Va.) was 2-for-3 with an RBI. A first team All-SAC choice, Henry doubled in McPhail in the fifth inning to give Wingate some breathing room and the eventual final tally of 3-1.

One of three Bulldogs to finish with two or more hits, Wingate's Kimee Lewis (Farmington, Utah) was 2-for-4 with a run scored. The leadoff hitter for the Bulldogs, Lewis opened the victory for Wingate in the first inning with a triple and was then brought in by McPhail to give Wingate an early 1-0 lead.

Carson-Newman was led in the loss by first team All-SAC outfielder Hilary Hammond (Chattanooga, Tenn.), who finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 from the dish. Hammond also scored C-N's only run in the game. Mandy Stevens (Knoxville, Tenn.) was the only other Lady Eagles batter to have a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-3.

Ashley Green (Charleston, S.C.) picked up the victory in the circle for the Bulldogs, pitching all seven innings for the Bulldogs and registering two strikeouts. Second-team All-SAC pitcher Stephanie Templeton (Ringgold, Ga.) took the loss for C-N.

Lenoir-Rhyne 7, Carson-Newman 0

CLINTON, S.C. - Regular season champion and top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne (47-8) advanced to the championship round of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament with a 7-0 shutout victory over second-seeded Carson-Newman (34-13) on Saturday afternoon at the PC Softball Complex.

The loss by the Lady Eagles dropped them into the loser's bracket final of the event to be played at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday against third-seeded Wingate who knocked seventh-seeded Mars Hill from the tournament earlier in the day.

The winner of the Carson-Newman-Wingate contest will face off against Lenoir-Rhyne at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 22 at the PC Softball Complex. Still undefeated at the 2007 SAC Softball Tournament, Lenoir-Rhyne will have to lose twice for either Carson-Newman or Wingate to claim the tournament crown.

Lenoir-Rhyne was led in the victory over C-N by freshman third baseman Lauren Johnson (Chesterfield, Va.), who finished the game with five of the Bears' seven RBIs. Johnson also had two of L-R's four doubles in the contest and overall was 2-for-4 from the dish.

Johnson was one of three for the Bears to finish with two hits. The Player of the Year in the SAC, Karie Pushard (Harrisburg, N.C.) was 2-for-3 with a run scored and second team All-SAC outfielder Brittany Cherry (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Carson-Newman did not have an individual with more than one hit. In fact, the Lady Eagles did not register an extra-base hit in their six hits.

Lenoir-Rhyne's Casey Hanes (Richmond, Va.) was a big reason for the paucity of hits. The All-SAC first team pitcher fanned eight en route to her 24th victory of the 2007 season.

A second team All-SAC pitcher, Carson-Newman's Stephanie Templeton pitched just 2.1 innings in earning the loss for the Lady Eagles.

Wingate 2, Mars Hill 1

CLINTON, S.C. - Third-seeded Wingate eliminated seventh-seeded Mars Hill from the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament with a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at the PC Softball Complex.

The Bulldogs will next play the loser of the semifinal game between the top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Bears and the second-seeded Carson-Newman Lady Eagles at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Saturday.

The winner of that game will advance to the championship round of the tournament at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 22 and will have to defeat the winner of the Lenoir-Rhyne-Carson-Newman contest twice. If a second game is needed it will begin immediately after the conclusion of the first game on Sunday.

Wingate scored both of its runs in the bottom of the third inning on an errant throw by Mars Hill pitcher Tiffany Farthing to the catcher with the bases loaded.

Second team All-SAC selection Hallie Pettigrew (Uniontown, Ohio) hit the short dribbler just inside the pitcher's circle and Farthing's throw caught second team All-SAC catcher Kristina Osborn off guard. Kelsey Emig (Glenmoore, Pa.) took advantage and scored from third and then second team All-SAC utility player LaRonda McClain (Kings Mountain, N.C.) found her way home as well to net the game-winning run.

Mars Hill pulled itself back into the game the top of the next inning when Tiara Mitchell (North Charleston, S.C.), who had led off the inning with a single, scored the Lions' first run of the contest on a sacrifice bunt by Anna James (Bellevue, Wash.).

Three Wingate players finished with multi-hit contests as Kimee Lewis (Farmington, Utah) was 2-for-3, Celina Rocha (Baytown, Texas) was 2-for-3 and Heather Winchester (Waxhaw, N.C.) was 2-for-3.

The Bulldogs' Ashley Green (Charleston, S.C.) earned the win in the circle, striking out two and limiting the Lions to just four hits. Farthing struck out three in the loss for Mars Hill.