Lady Eagles pound out 23 hits in split with Queens (N.C.)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles bounced back from a 3-2 game one loss to hammer out 14 hits and beat Queens (N.C.) in game two, 7-4, to split a softball doubleheader on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.

With the split, C-N is now 4-2 on the season, while Queens opens its season at 1-1.

Game 1 – Queens 3, C-N 2

Queens rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the sixth inning with a run in each of the final two frames to win game one, 3-2.

The Royals' Megan Lathbury's bases-loaded, one-out ground ball led to a close play at the plate as Queens' Keeya Turner was ruled to have beaten the throw to decide game one.

Queens never led until the final play of the game as Mary Shealy allowed three runs on eight hits in the opener.

C-N's Kim Whaley gave the Lady Eagles a 1-0 lead in the second with a lead-off single, scoring on an RBI-single from Cassidy Skeen. C-N had four hits in the frame and Queens committed two errors in the inning, but C-N left the bases loaded.

Skeen would single and score on a wild pitch in the fifth as the Lady Eagles reclaimed the lead late before another Queens rallied.

Skeen, first baseman Cailtlyn Lance, catcher Bri Shoemake, and third baseman Jessica Morgan all had two hits for the Lady Eagles, who out-hit the Royals, 9-8.

Game 2 – Carson-Newman 7, Queens 4

Freshman Shelby Robertson went 4-for-5 and scored three runs as the Lady Eagles popped Royals pitching for 14 hits in a 7-4 win in Game 2.

Robertson scored in each of the first two innings to spark a C-N offense that built a 6-1 lead after two innings.

Carson-Newman touched up Queens for five first-inning runs as Robertson singled, Sara Kelley added a two-run double, and Lance added a two-run single to leave little doubt in Game 2. Both Kelley and Lance delivered with two outs to build the 5-0 lead.

Robertson singled with one-out in the second inning and later scored on a Bethany Davis sacrifice fly to move the lead out to 6-1.

Mary Shealy (WP, 4-2) picked up the win for the Lady Eagles, scattering seven hits and striking out six.

Skeen, Kelley, Whaley, and Shoemake all had two hits for C-N.

Carson-Newman returns to action on Saturday at against Erskine in Due West, S.C. First pitch is at 1 p.m. The Lady Eagles will host lees McRae on Sunday at 1 p.m.