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SOFTBALL NEWS |
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LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY Office of Sports Information Sports Release April 9, 2008 Early Inning Mistakes In Game Two Cost Lady Railsplitters Sweep Of Catawba
HARROGATE, TN – Wednesday’s South Atlantic Conference meeting with Catawba was anything but ordinary. After putting together a solid 5-2 win over CC in the first game of a double header in which LMU generated 10 hits, the Lady Railsplitters came out flat in the first inning of the second game, prompting Head Coach Dan Burns to make several lineup changes. Game one went just as planned for the Lady Railsplitters. LMU picked up the first runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning when reining South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week Sara Henn (Kettering, OH) blasted a three run homerun to give the Lady Railsplitters a 3-0 lead. After holding LMU scoreless in the bottom of the second, Catawba fired back in the top of the third inning on an LMU throwing error and a wild pitch to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Lady Railsplitters. LMU’s final runs came in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by senior Alisa Burk (Blaine, WA) and again in the sixth inning on an RBI single by freshman Sammy Jo Garrett (Wartburg, TN) for the final 5-2 margin. Sophomore Jessica Locker (Tipp City, OH), who is making a comeback from a mid-season injury improved to 9-2 on the year with the win. Locker pitched the full seven innings, allowing six hits, two runs and only one earned run with one walk and three strikeouts. From the very beginning of the second game, the Lady Railsplitters looked flat. After two singles, a fielder’s choice and back-to-back homeruns in the first inning which put Catawba ahead 5-0, LMU Head Coach Dan Burns made several lineup changes in the second inning. Catawba, realizing the situation at hand, added fuel to the fire at the plate in the top of the second and third innings tacking on nine more runs for a 14-1 lead. While most teams would have been shell-shocked by the deficit, the Lady Railsplitters fought back, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third and six more in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 14-9 game in favor of Catawba. As the game entered the fifth inning, Catawba managed to find a couple of insurance runs when Allie Marshall singled to short, and then scored on an RBI double down the left field line by teammate Sam Vidal. Later inning the inning, Jessie Whitesides grounded out to the pitcher, but the contact was enough to score teammate Sam Vidal from third for the RBI. Now leading 16-9, the Indians needed to only sit back on their heels and play defense through the remaining innings. Although LMU did managed to pick-up two additional runs in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Burk and a single by freshman Ashley Knight (Palm Harbor, FL), the hole LMU dug in the early innings of the game was too much and Catawba escaped with a 16-11 win over the Lady Railsplitters. Catawba improves to 22-21 with the win and moves into seventh place at 4-8 in South Atlantic Conference play, while LMU goes to 29-14 overall and 7-7 in the league, good enough to remain in fourth place. Lincoln Memorial will be in action again on Thursday when the Lady Railsplitters play host to Union College at 5:30 p.m. in their final home game of the season. -LMU- For additional comments please contact, Head Coach: Dan Burns Phone: (423) 869-6242 |