Saturday, March 31, 2007                      

                                PC Splits Doubleheader With L-R

CLINTON, S.C. – Presbyterian and Lenoir-Rhyne split a South Atlantic Conference softball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the PC Softball Complex.

The Lady Blue Hose garnered a 2-0 victory in game one, while the Bears took game two by the score of 8-1.

The loss to Lenoir-Rhyne in game two marked the first time that the Lady Blue Hose had fallen to an opponent at home in the 2007 season. PC opened up the season by claiming victories in its first 13 home contests.

Presbyterian is now 24-9 on the season overall, while L-R is 33-6. Both teams are currently 4-2 in league, leaving them tied with Carson-Newman (28-8, 4-2 SAC) for first place in the SAC softball standings.

The Lady Blue Hose and Carson-Newman will square off at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2 at the PC Softball Complex.

Game One

The game scoreless in the bottom of the sixth inning, PC plated two runs with two outs en route to the 2-0 win.

Rachel Bailey (Howard, Ohio) got things going for the Lady Blue Hose in the inning by singling up the middle. Bailey then stole second base to place herself in scoring position.

Laura Tate (Spartanburg, S.C.) promptly doubled to center field to bring in Bailey and net the game-winning RBI. Jessica Peterka (Sarasota, Fla.) then singled to left field to bring in Tate and set the final score at 2-0.

Paige Cassady (12-4) acquired her second straight shutout victory and her third consecutive victory in the Lady Blue Hose win. Cassady ends the day tied with fellow freshman Mary Gordon for the team lead in overall wins as both players are currently 12-4.

Cassady (Orlando, Fla.) pitched all seven innings for PC, striking out five Lenoir-Rhyne batters and surrendering just two hits.

Casey Hanes pitched all six innings for the Bears in the loss, striking out three PC batters.

Game Two

Lenoir-Rhyne got off the snide in the top of the first inning in game two with three runs. Bears’ catcher Karie Pushard picked up all three runs for L-R when she hit a three-run home run off Gordon (12-4).

Reigning SAC Player of the Week Erin Stewart hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning to give PC some life and make the score 3-1 in favor of L-R.

The home run was Stewart’s fourth home run in the last 11 days.

L-R would tack on five more runs over the next two innings to place the game out of reach and obtain the 8-1 victory.

Left fielder Jessica Luper led the Bears in the contest, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with one RBI. She was one of four L-R student-athletes with multiple hits.

PC only had two hits in the game with Stewart’s home run and a double by Ashley Ford (Marietta, Ga.) in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Meredith O’Connor pitched a complete game two-hitter to pick up the win in the circle for the Bears. O’Connor fanned 11 PC batters.

Gordon picked up the loss for PC, striking out five Bears.


                   Box Score Game 1          Box Score Game 2