Lenoir-Rhyne Falls To North Georgia, 5-3, In Softball Super Regional
DAHLONEGA, GA -- Top-ranked North Georgia (49-0) opened the 2010 NCAA Division II Softball Southeast Super Regional Tournament with a 5-3 victory over No. 8 Lenoir-Rhyne (53-8) Friday evening at Haines and Carolyn Hill Stadium. With the win, the Saints take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
The Saints jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning on Leslee Smith's (Lexington, Ga.) run-scoring single with two outs. North Georgia plated another run on the same play when Lenoir-Rhyne misplayed the hit.
L-R got a run back in the top of the fourth inning when sophomore second baseman Carlee Carpenter (Newton, N.C.) connected on a one-out, solo home run to left field. The round-tripper was Carpenter's 13th of the season.
North Georgia pushed the lead back to two at 3-1 in its half of the fourth with a towering solo home run by Katherine Martin (Atlanta, Ga.).
The Saints pushed their advantage to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning on Courtney McGuire's (Atlanta, Ga.) two-run home run.
L-R junior shortstop Kat Rivers (Royston, Ga.), the 2010 Southeast Regional Player Of The Year, connected on her national-leading 23rd home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the top of the seventh but it wasn't enough.
North Georgia's Sarah Phillips (Powell, Ohio) improved to 42-0 with the victory while L-R freshman Alex Smith (Cocoa, Fla.) fell to 25-5 after suffering the loss.
The two teams will play Saturday at 2:30 p.m., with a possible third game of the series beginning at 5 p.m.
Game two will broadcast live on www.SaintsSports.com with pregame starting at 2:00 p.m. live from the field at Haines & Carolyn Hill stadium.