Thursday, April 19, 2007            
        
       Stevens Leads No. 2 Carson-Newman To Winner’s Bracket

CLINTON, S.C. – Mandy Stevens (Knoxville, Tenn.) led second-seeded Carson-Newman to the winner’s bracket of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament with a 6-3 victory over seventh-seeded Mars Hill on Thursday afternoon at the PC Softball Complex.

Stevens was 3-for-4 from the plate for the Lady Eagles in the game, collecting two RBIs and scoring a run.

She was one of three Carson-Newman softball players to acquire multiple hits as All-SAC second team member Katie Speaks (Manassas, Va.) was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.) was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Mars Hill had two players with multi-hit efforts in Ashley Harber (Goose Creek, S.C.) and Katie Bryden (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada). Both Harber and Bryden were 2-for-3 with an RBI at the dish on the afternoon with Harber crossing the plate once as well.

Carson-Newman placed the game out of reach in the first three innings, scoring four runs.

The Lady Eagles scored the inaugural run of the game in the bottom of the first when Stevens singled in first team All-SAC member Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.). Carson-Newman struck again in the bottom of the second to make the score 2-0 when Sarah Little (Calhoun, Ga.) led off things in the inning with a home run to center field.

Carson-Newman plated two more in the bottom of the third and did not score again until their final at-bat when All-SAC second team selection Whitney Hickam singled through the left side to score two and give Carson-Newman six runs in the game.

Mars Hill did not pick up its three runs until their final two chances in the sixth and seventh stanzas. Harber acquired the first RBI of the day for MHC in the top of the sixth when she doubled in a run and then Bryden tallied the second in the inning when she singled up the middle to score a run for the Lions.

All-SAC second team choice Kristina Osborn (Birmingham, Ala.) grounded out to the shortstop in the seventh inning to bring in Paige Brantley (Raleigh, N.C.) and set the final mark at 6-3.

Carson-Newman with the victory will next face off against third-seeded Wingate on field one at the PC Softball Complex at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, April 20. Mars Hill will face Newberry in an elimination game at 11:45 a.m. on field two at the PC Softball Complex.