Wingate, N.C. — The 22nd-ranked Carson-Newman Lady Eagles defeated Newberry College 4-1 on day two of the 2010 Food Lion SAC softball tournament at the WU Softball complex. The Eagles improve to 35-8 on the season, and remain in the winner's bracket, returning to action Saturday. Newberry falls to 30-12 overall and will return to action Friday afternoon.

The win was Carson-Newman's 10th consecutive SAC Tournament victory.

Senior first baseman Sara Little (Calhoun, Ga.) led the Carson-Newman attack, going two-for-two with a homer and three RBI. Senior infielder Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) was one-for-three with a run scored.

After Newberry stranded a pair of runners in the top of the first, the Lady Eagles answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Howard led off the inning with a single, while sophomore outfielder Cassidy Skeen (Powell, Tenn.) reached on a walk. Little followed by driving a 1-1 pitch over the fence in left center to make it 3-0. Little now has seven homers on the season.

Newberry responded with a run in the second. Senior outfielder Whitney Wiles (Iva, S.C.) led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, then scored on a Carson-Newman error to cut the deficit to two.

The Eagles had the answer in the bottom of the inning. Junior outfielder Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) hit a grounder back to the pitcher, who threw the ball into the right field corner. Another Newberry throwing error on the same play would allow Price to score, making it 4-1.

That would be plenty for sophomore right-hander Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.). She moves to 14-4 on the season, after allowing one unearned run on three hits in seven innings of work. She has not allowed an earned run in 14 innings of work in the tournament. Senior right-hander Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, FLa.) took the loss, falling to 19-7 on the season. She allowed three earned runs on four hits while striking out 11 in six innings of work.

The Lady Eagles will return to action Saturday at 1:30 p.m., facing the winner of the Lenoir-Rhyne vs. Mars Hill game. The winner of that matchup will advance to Sunday's championship. Newberry returns to action at 4:30 p.m., facing the winner of the Wingate vs. Catawba game.