Lady Eagles blank USC Aiken, 6-0, to stay alive in NCAA Southeast Regional
HICKORY, N.C. — Junior pitcher Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) fired a five-hit shutout to lead the sixth-seeded Carson-Newman softball team to a 6-0 victory over seventh-seeded USC Aiken on Saturday in the loser's bracket of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Bears Field in Hickory, N.C.
HICKORY, N.C. — Junior pitcher Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) fired a five-hit shutout to lead the sixth-seeded Carson-Newman softball team to a 6-0 victory over seventh-seeded USC Aiken on Saturday in the loser's bracket of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Bears Field in Hickory, N.C.
With the win, the Lady Eagles (40-16-1) advance to the loser's bracket final and will face third-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State today at 5 p.m. The winner will advance to the finals to play second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. USC Aiken concludes its season at 26-18.
Shealy had two strikeouts and didn't walk a batter in seven innings of work to improve to 37-14 on the season. The hard-throwing right-hander forced the Pacers into 16 groundouts out of the 26 batters she faced.
The Lady Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third on a RBI double by sophomore Bri Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.).
After pushing its lead to 2-0 in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Shoemake, C-N erupted for four runs in the sixth, including a solo blast by Sara Kelley (Birchwood, Tenn.) and a two-run shot by Shoemake, to put the game out of reach.
Shealy then retired the side in the seventh to seal the win.
C-N pounded out 10 hits on the day. Shoemake went 3-for-4 with four RBIs to lead the way, while senior Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
USC Aiken had five players with one hit apiece, including Brittney Williamson, Kylee Knop, Hillary Stewart, Kayla Denham and Brandy Bossle.
USC Aiken starting hurler India Kornegay (13-10) was tagged with the loss after giving up six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. She also had five walks and four strikeouts.
