Bears eliminate Bobcats, reach softball title game

Two familiar foes will battle for the championship of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional and a berth in a Super Regional.

Lenoir-Rhyne University defeated Georgia College & State 6-4 in the championship game of the double-elimination tournament at Bears Field on Saturday to reach today's title game.

L-R (38-12) faces South Atlantic Conference foe Carson-Newman at 1:30 p.m. at Bears Field.

To earn a berth in one of the Super Regionals on Friday and Saturday, the Bears must defeat Carson-Newman (31-15) twice today.

If L-R wins the first game today, both teams will have one loss and another game will be needed at 4 p.m. to decide the tournament winner.

The Bears and Eagles will meet for the third times in 16 days, and the Eagles have beaten the Bears in three of four games this season. Carson-Newman has outscored L-R 26-12 in those four games and 16-5 in the last two matchups.

After being knocked into the elimination bracket by Carson-Newman in the first game on Saturday, L-R bounced back with its second victory in as many days over Georgia College & State to eliminate the Bobcats.

The Bobcats (32-24) scored first with a run in the second inning, but the Bears responded with a run in the second, third and two in the fifth and sixth innings for a 6-1 lead, then withstood a seventh-inning rally.

L-R scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning with two runs on two hits.

Kat Rivers started the inning with triple, and Erin Evans followed with a walk and stolen base to put runners at third and second with no outs.

Rivers scored the Bears' fifth run on a ground out off the bat of Brittney Furr for a 5-1 lead, and Evans scored on a double by pinch-hitter Beth Slater for a 6-1 advantage.

The Bobcats rallied in the top of the seventh with a two-out, three-run home run by Sherquita Bostick to close the difference to 6-4.

Dawon Millwood (18-4) bounced back to retire Tonya Medders on a ground out to end the game.

CARSON-NEWMAN 6, L-R 4: Stephanie Templeton sent Carson-Newman into unchartered waters with a RBI single in the top of the 10th inning, capping a two-run inning that lifted the Eagles past the Bears in a winner's bracket game.

The victory put the Eagles a win away from advancing to a Super Regional for the first time.

"Anytime you play Lenoir-Rhyne, you are going to play a team that is going to give you everything they got and that's what happened today," said Carson-Newman head coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield. "Today was a big victory for us."

After each team scored a run in the ninth inning, Carson-Newman's No. 9 hitter, Leah Price, drew a leadoff walk in the 10th.

Three batters later, Price the go-ahead run on Templeton's single for a 5-4 lead.

The Eagles rounded out the scoring when Whitney Durham, who was hit by a pitch, scored on a single by Sarah Little.

In the bottom of the 10th, Templeton (11-2) retired the Bears in order with two groundouts and a strikeout to secure the win.

L-R appeared to be headed to a win in the ninth inning.

The Bears tied at 4 when Rivers doubled, scoring pinch-runner Kendayl Waugh (she ran for Noel Belk, who had singled).

L-R had runners on second and third with one out and loaded the bases with two outs, but Templeton struck out Furr to end the inning.

"There were a number of times that it looked bleak, but we were very fortunate to get out of it each time," said Hollifield.

The keys to the game were the Eagles defense and some erratic pitching by Belk. And the Eagles turned four double plays, each of them ending an inning.

"We said all along that in preparation in coming down here that pitching and defense were the keys," said Hollifield.

Belk (16-4) had control problems for a second straight day.

After allowing five walks in the opening game on Friday, Belk walked eight and hit five batters in 9 1/3 innings.

L-R stranded 12 runners, including eight through the first four innings. That included leaving the bases loaded in the fourth.

"We left too many people on base," said L-R head coach Shena Hollar. "We had chances early to put them away and couldn't get the hit we needed.

"If we could have done that early, the game would have been over and we should have won it in the ninth with the top of our lineup up."

GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE 8, USC AIKEN 0: Georgia College & State scored all the runs it needed with three in the first en route to a five-inning victory.

The Bobcats had two hits in the bottom of the first, but were aided by two USC Aiken errors that led to all three runs being unearned.

Medders provided the big blow with a one-out, three-run home run.

The Bobcats added two runs in the third and rounded out the scoring with three in the fifth.

The Bobcats finished with six hits, and that was more than enough as Mandy Chandler limited the Pacers to one hit.

USC Aiken finished 34-16.