Lady Eagles down Lenoir-Rhyne, 2-1 to advance to Super Regionals
May 10, 2009
HICKORY, N.C. -- Sarah Little (Calhoun, Ga.) delivered a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie, as seventh-seeded Carson-Newman went on to defeat No. 3 seed Lenoir-Rhyne, 2-1, Sunday in the finals of the Southeast Regional II of the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament in Hickory, N.C.
With the win, the Lady Eagles (32-15) advance to the Super Regionals, where they will take on No. 1 North Georgia in a best of three series beginning on Friday in Dahlonega, Ga. Game times for the series will be released early in the week. If C-N wins the series, it will advance to the 2009 NCAA Division II Women's College World Series in Salem, Va., on May 21-25.
"I'm all smiles right now," C-N coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "We played a very tough game today. This is an exciting win for us. It's the furthest we have ever gone in postseason play."
Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished with two of C-N's five hits on the day. Little's home run was the only hit she produced to push her tournament total to seven. All of Little's hits in the tournament produced at least one RBI.
"(Little) carries a lot of weight on her shoulders, as far as the offensive department goes," Hollifield said. "We've had good pitching and sound defense, but her coach and her teammates can't wait to see her get in the batter's box."
Lenoir-Rhyne (38-13) managed just two hits off C-N starting pitcher Stephanie Templeton (Ringgold, Ga.), who won all three games of the tournament for the Lady Eagles. Templeton (12-2) worked all seven innings, allowed just one run and had four strikeouts.
Bears' starter Noel Belk (Charlotte, N.C.) (16-5) was tagged with the loss after surrendering two runs on five hits in five innings in the circle.
The Bears took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Belk drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on Carlee Carpenter's (Newton, N.C.) sacrifice bunt. Templeton then walked the next three batters, allowing Belk to score.
C-N tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth. Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) singled down the left-field line to lead off the inning and later scored on a Howard double to center field.
The Lady Eagles scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth, as Little sent a towering solo home run off the scoreboard in center field to give C-N a 2-1 lead.
Templeton then pitched a perfect seventh inning to seal the win for C-N.
