HobbsDailyReport.com
HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Sarah Kenley, the top player in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) in women’s softball, kept Lenoir-Rhyne University advancing in the league tournament on Thursday.
Kenley
In an opening-round game, she hit a walk-off, ninth-inning home run that lifted the second-seeded Bears to a 5-4 victory over seventh-seeded Tusculum.
LRU (45-9) plays a second round game against No. 3 seed Newberry (32-16) on Friday at 10 a.m. in Hartsville, S.C.
Tusculum (27-24) drops into the consolation bracket and has a 10 a.m. game on Friday against No. 6 Wingate.
Newberry beat Wingate 3-2 in eight innings on Thursday to advance.
LRU had to force Tusculum into extra innings in its opener, tying it in the bottom of the seventh inning by picking up a run on an illegal pitch.
The Bears’ Madison Poe, a junior from Siler City, had a two-run single while freshman pitcher Sydney Miller, from East Bend, was the winning pitcher and improved to 14-5.
The Pioneers rallied from a 3-0 deficit with a four-run sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run single from Erica Hester.
Taylor Plemons fell to 12-13 as the losing pitcher.
Tusculum 4 (27-24) LRU 5 (45-9)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Sammie West rf…………. 4 1 2 0 Erin Boone cf………….. 4 2 1 0
Michelle Miller 2b……… 4 0 1 1 Christina Walker rf…….. 5 2 2 0
Emily Hester 1b………… 5 0 2 2 Sarah Kenley c…………. 3 1 2 1
Emily White pr………… 0 0 0 0 Sydney Landreth 1b……… 4 0 1 1
Taylor Johnson ss………. 5 0 1 0 Madison Poe 2b…………. 3 0 1 2
Rachel Wisner c………… 4 1 1 0 Madison Carter ss………. 3 0 1 0
Delaney Guerrero 3b…….. 4 0 1 0 Ashten Hinkle pr………. 0 0 0 0
Jenna Restivo dp……….. 3 1 2 1 Mackenzie Cates 3b……… 3 0 0 0
Shelby Griffin ph……… 1 0 0 0 Dakota Keller lf……….. 2 0 0 0
Morgan Mahaffey cf……… 3 1 0 0 Savannah Davis dp………. 3 0 0 0
Taylor Battle lf……….. 4 0 1 0 Mackensi Swain ph……… 1 0 0 0
Taylor Plemons p……….. 0 0 0 0 Sydney Miller p………… 0 0 0 0
Brandi Parks p………… 0 0 0 0
Totals………………… 37 4 11 4 Totals………………… 31 5 8 4
Score by Innings R H E
Tusculum 000 004 000 – 4 11 2
LRU 100 020 101 – 5 8 0
Note: 2 outs, 0 runners LOB when the game ended.
E – R. Wisner; T. Battle. LOB – Tusculum 11; LR 8. 2B – R. Wisner; T. Battle; S. Landreth. HR – S. Kenley. HBP – R. Wisner; M. Cates. SH – S. Kenley 2; M. Carter; D. Keller. SB – S. West; C. Walker; D. Keller.
Tusculum IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Taylor Plemons L,12-13…. 8.2 8 5 4 3 5 0 1 1 0 31 39 12 9
LRU IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Sydney Miller W,14-5…… 8.2 11 3 3 2 2 1 0 1 0 36 39 11 12
Brandi Parks ………….. 0.1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0
WP – S. Miller. HBP – by T. Plemons (M. Cates); by S. Miller (R. Wisner). BK – T. Plemons. Strikeouts – R. Wisner; M. Mahaffey; C. Walker; S. Kenley; S. Landreth; M. Cates; D. Keller. Walks – S. West; M. Miller; D. Guerrero; M. Mahaffey; E. Boone; M. Poe; D. Keller.
- Reported by LRU Sports Information