SAC Softball Championship Day One Recaps

Lenoir-Rhyne, Catawba, Anderson and Tusculum all recorded opening day wins in day one of the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Championship, held at Red Edmonds Field on the campus of Tusculum College. Game recaps are posted below:

Game 1: No. 5 Tusculum 5, No. 4 Carson-Newman 1
(Box Score)

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Fifth-seeded Tusculum plated four runs in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie en route to a 5-1 win over No. 4 seed Carson-Newman in an opening round game of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament Thursday morning at Red Edmonds Field.

The Pioneers (31-23) will play No. 1 seed Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday at 1 p.m. at Edmonds Field. Carson-Newman (31-21) will play No. 8 Mars Hill on Friday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game at Chuckey-Doak High School.

With the score deadlocked at 1-1 after six innings, Tusculum pieced together three consecutive hits. Katie Gross got things started with her one-out double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ashley Bagley's RBI single to plate the go-ahead run.

Katie Stuckwish followed with a RBI double to the right field gap, while pinch-hitter Brooke Lauritzen came off the bench and laced the third double of the inning to right and a 4-1 advantage. Kaytlin Stroinski capped the scoring with her RBI single up the middle for a four-run lead for the Pioneers.

Tusculum starter Elizabeth Johnson closed out her 26th win of the season as she retired the Lady Eagles in order in the bottom of the seventh.

TC's Katie Brennan led the Pioneers with her 2-for-3 performance, while Katie Gross also accounted for a multi-hit outing.

Carson-Newman scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first when Cassidy Skeen drew a lead-off walk, stole second and scored on Bri Shoemake's 16th double of the season for a 1-0 lead.

The score would remain that way until the top of the fourth inning when Ashley Burke tied the game with a solo home run to centerfield, her second round-tripper of the season.

Johnson (26-11) went the distance for her 31st complete of the year as she limited C-N to one run, a pair of hits, walked two and struck out three. C-N's Mary Shealy falls to 31-21 on the year as she allowed nine hits, five runs, one walk and three strikeouts.

The 2012 Food Lion SAC Tournament is being held on the campus of Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn. The eight-team, double-elimination tournament is being held Apr. 19-22 with the winner of the event earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Game 2: No. 3 Anderson, No. 6 Brevard
(Box Score)

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- South Atlantic Conference Player of Year Abby Child hit a walk-off two-run double to rally third-seeded Anderson to a 3-2 win over No. 6 seed Brevard on Thursday in opening day action of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Championship at Red Edmonds Field.

The eight-team, double-elimination tournament is being held on the campus of Tusculum College.

With the victory, the Trojans (36-11) will advance in the winner's bracket and face No. 2 Catawba on Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Edmonds Field. Brevard will face No. 7 Wingate in a Friday elimination game at 10:30 a.m. at Chuckey-Doak High School.

The first four innings was a pitcher's duel between Anderson starter Amber Duncan and BC hurler Kayla Clemens.

The Tornados (23-23) drew got on the scoreboard first with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning, both scoring on Emily Boykin's two-out single to right field.

Anderson cut the deficit in half in bottom of the sixth inning when Child led off with a walk and moved to third on Danielle Swygert's 15th double of the year. Clemens got back-to-back fly outs for the first two outs of the inning. But on the second fly out by Duncan, but the outfielder's throw to the plate went over the catcher's head to allow Childs to score from third to make it a 2-1 contest.

In the bottom of the seventh, Anderson pinch-hitter Rachel Rhodes and Jessica Neidigh led off the frame with back-to-back singles. After a pop-up on a bunt attempt for the first out of the inning, Child stepped up and roped her 11th double to the gap in left field to score the tying and winning runs.

Neidigh led the Trojans with her 3-for-4 effort, while Brevard's Meredith Davenport paced the Tornados going 2-for-3 at the plate.

Duncan (21-8) picked up the victory as she tossed her 22nd complete game, allowing seven hits, two unearned runs and five walks. Clemens falls to (14-15 on the season) as she went the distance, allowing seven hits, three runs, two earned, three walks and four strikeouts.

Game 3: No. 2 Catawba 5, No. 7 Wingate 0
(Box Score)

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Brittany Murray pitched a three-hit shutout to lead second-seeded Catawba to a 5-0 victory over No. 7 Wingate Thursday afternoon at Red Edmonds Field in an opening day game of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Championship.

The eight-team, double-elimination tournament is being held on the campus of Tusculum College.

The Catawba Indians (33-15) advance in the winner's bracket of the tournament and will face No. 3 Anderson at 10:30 a.m. at Edmonds Field. Wingate will face No. 7 seed Brevard in an elimination game at Chuckey-Doak High School at 10:30 a.m.

Catawba pounded out 11 hits on the day, multi-hit games by Michaela Boyd, Alli Justice and Tara Gibbs. Wingate's Betsy Braswell tallied a pair of doubles, her 10th and 11th of the season for the Bulldogs.

Murray went the distance to improve to 16-9 on the year, allowing three hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Wingate starter Miranda Paul (22-21) pitched six innings, allowing 11 hits, five runs and a strikeout.

Catawba plated two runs in the first inning and three more in the third. In the opening frame, Justice drove in the first run of the game with her ninth double of the season, while Kelsey Burgess drove in the other with a sacrifice fly.

The Catawba Indians sent eight batters to the plate in the third, scoring three times on five hits, highlighted by Emily D. Huneycutt's RBI double, her ninth of the season.

Game 4: No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne 5, No. 8 Mars Hill 1
(Box Score)

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne scored a run each in five of its six times to the plate as the Bears defeated No. 8 seed Mars Hill 5-1 Thursday night in the final game of day one action of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament at Red Edmonds Field.

The 21st-ranked Bears (43-11) advance in the winner's bracket and will face No. 5 seed and tournament host Tusculum at 1 p.m. The Lions (22-23) will face No. 4 seed Carson-Newman Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. in an elimination game at Chuckey-Doak High School.

SAC Pitcher of the Year Dawon Millwood improved to 29-6 on the season, pitching seven innings and allowing four hits, one run, three walks and two strikeouts. MHC starter Taylor Morris (12-15) tossed six innings, allowed nine hits, five runs and struck out five in the loss.

Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring a run in each of the first three innings. Jessica Fellmeth got things started in the bottom of the first with her solo home run, her 13th of the season. In the second, Marie Mauhar reached on a wild pitch following a strikeout. She moved to second on a Tameron Sealey's bunt single and scored on a two-out single from Jody Mizelle for a 2-0 LRU lead.

The Bears plated their third run of the game in the next inning as Hally Jarman led off with double and later scored on Brittany Coursen's two-out infield single.

Mars Hill trimmed the contest to a two-run deficit on Natalie Haitcox's two-run double in the fifth to make it a 3-1 game.

But the Bears added a run in the fifth and sixth frames, while Millwood retired the final seven batters of the game to seal the victory.

Lenoir-Rhyne nine hits, including multi-hit outings by Coursen and Sealey for the Bears.

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