Hefner sets C-N's single season home run record as Eagles split with LMU
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman shortstop Brittany Hefner (Talbot, Tenn.) reset the Eagles single season home run record by blasting her 12th and 13th bombs this year out of the park in the Eagles (17-9, 2-2 SAC) doubleheader split with LMU (17-10, 2-2 SAC) Wednesday afternoon at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 1 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
|
|
3 | 5 | 2 | 9 | X | 19 | 20 | 0 |
Hefner sets single season school home run record as Eagles split with LMU
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman shortstop Brittany Hefner (Talbot, Tenn.) reset the Eagles single season home run record by blasting her 12th and 13th bombs this year out of the park in the Eagles (17-9, 2-2 SAC) doubleheader split with LMU (17-10, 2-2 SAC) Wednesday afternoon at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex.
LMU run ruled C-N in game one 15-6 in six innings before the Eagles turned the tables on the Railsplitters in game two with a 19-2 outburst that ended after five innings.
"Fortunately we were able to regroup and come out and fight the second game," Carson-Newman head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "That's the type of intensity and aggressiveness that we need to take every time we go to the plate."
Game one: LMU 15, C-N 6 (6)
Lincoln Memorial pounded out 16 hits including a pair of home runs to take the first game from the Eagles.
The Railsplitters were able to rely on two big innings – a seven-run third and a six-run sixth – to pick up the win over the Eagles.
"We didn't show up ready to play," Kazee-Hollifield said. "Defensively we had two errors in the first two at bats and really that set the stage for the rest of game one."
It was the first time C-N had been run ruled this year. The 16 hits the Eagles gave up matched a school record for hits allowed set by Kennesaw State in 1997.
Amanda Snow and Andrea Foster both homered for the Railsplitters. Foster's dinger was a pinch hit grand slam in the sixth to put the run rule in effect.
LMU was nine-for-14 at the plate in RBI opportunity situations and eight-for-15 with two outs on the board.
Hefner picked up her 12th home run of the season in the third to draw the Eagles within four, a moot point following the six-run sixth for LMU.
Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) picked up the loss (7-8) in the circle for C-N as she not only battled Railsplitters but also illness.
Samantha Smith ran her win/loss record to 12-5 with the win.
Game two: C-N 16, LMU 2 (5)
Game two saw C-N score runs and bring at least seven batters to the dish in every inning. The Eagles batted around twice in rapping out 20 hits – the second most allowed by LMU in school history.
The 19 runs are the most scored by the Eagles since C-N won a 19-2 game against Felician in March of 2008.
Six different Eagles pounded out at least three hits in the game, led by Hefner's four RBI day. Bethany Davis (Nicholasville, Ky.) came a triple shy of the cycle while Kelli Hensley (Knoxville, Tenn.), Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.), Cassie Elliot (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Braleigh Angel (Hixson, Tenn.) all joined the fray with a trio of hits.
Hefner blasted her school record 13th home run into the pine trees in left on a line drive in Carson-Newman's nine-run fourth inning.
She supplants Mary Shealy and Sara Little as C-N's single season home run leader. Shealy hit 12 home runs in 2012 while Little cranked her dozen in 2009.
The game was one of home runs mixed with small ball for the Eagles. In addition to Hefner's moon shot, both Elliot and Davis went yard for the Eagles.
With the exception of Davis' leadoff shot for the second, the other two home runs came with runners aboard.
In fact, the Eagles were four-for-four at the plate to leadoff innings and 20-for-26 in situations where there was an opportunity to advance a runner.
Kaitie Sims (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) picked up the win (10-1) in the circle after carrying a no-hitter into the fourth inning.
The Eagles hit the road this weekend for a doubleheader Saturday against Wingate.
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