Thursday, March 22, 2007

LENOIR-RHYNE SWEEPS TUSCULUM IN SAC SOFTBALL OPENER

HICKORY, N.C. - The No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne College softball team swept Tusculum College 4-0 and 7-0, Thursday afternoon at Bears Field in the South Atlantic Conference opener for both squads. 

L-R totaled seven home runs in the doubleheader and its 42 round-trippers for the season is now a school record. 

Sophomore Casey Hanes (Richmond, Va.) and junior Meredith O'Connor (Charlotte, N.C.) each threw shutouts for the Bears, who limited the Pioneers to three hits all afternoon. 

Game 1: No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne 4, Tusculum 0 
Hanes (13-3) was one out away from a no-hitter and finished with a one-hit, eight-strikeout performance in the victory over Tusculum. 

Senior shortstop Brooke Starnes (Conover, N.C.) opened the scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning before junior first baseman Leah Krohn (Taylorsville, N.C.) and freshman third baseman Lauren Johnson (Chesterfield, Va.) added round-trippers in the sixth inning. 

Johnson's shot was a two-run home run while Krohn's four-bagger was her team-leading eighth of the year. 

Tusculum's Megan DuBois (Chino, Calif.) fell to 8-5 with the loss. DuBois pitched well limiting the Bears to just a run through the first five innings. TC’s Brie Griffin (Glendale, Ariz.) broke up the no-hit bid with a double in the seventh.

Game 2: Lenoir-Rhyne 7, Tusculum 0 
Lenoir-Rhyne hit four home runs and O'Connor improved to 14-1 after striking out 16 batters en route to the win. 

Senior second baseman Lindsay Dehart (Graham, N.C.) hit two home runs and finished with four runs batted in as the Bears took control with a four-run first inning. 

The opening frame was highlighted by freshman outfielder Brittany Cherry's (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) lead-off home run while Dehart followed with a three-run blast. 

Junior centerfielder Taylor Queen (Conover, N.C.) added a two-run home run in the second inning and Dehart closed out the scoring with a solo shot in the sixth inning. 

Tusculum's Jessica Bales (Louisville, Ky.) suffered the setback and dropped to 4-2 for the season.  Senior Kassie Killion (Coolidge, Ariz.) pitched well in her 4 1/3 innings of work as she scattered two hits, allowed a run and struck out six.

The Pioneers return to action on Tuesday when they host Carson-Newman College for a SAC twinbill at Red Edmonds Field.

- TC -