Lady Eagles Take Two From SAC Foe Newberry
April 11, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman softball team picked up a pair of key South Atlantic Conference wins by sweeping Newberry Saturday afternoon at the Lady Eagle Softball Complex. The Lady Eagles earned a 4-1 victory in the opener before claiming the second game 7-2.
With the wins, C-N improves to 23-13 overall and 7-5 in the SAC. Newberry falls to 25-12 and 6-4 in conference play.
Heading into the doubleheader, Newberry was tied with Wingate at the top of the SAC standings with two losses and was ranked fifth in the Southeast regional rankings, while C-N was 10th in the region.
"Huge is the word," Lady Eagles coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said when describing the wins. "Newberry has a very good team. They are very athletic. Our kids came out and played well. I could tell in the locker room that they were charged up and ready to go."
In the first game, the Lady Eagles received another stellar performance from starting hurler Stephanie Templeton (Ringgold, Ga.) (5-1). The junior right-hander allowed one run on six hits and struck out four batters in seven innings of work.
C-N collected six hits in the contest. Amber Hewitt (Ringgold, Ga.) led the way with two hits, while Templeton helped her own cause by producing a solo home run, which was her fifth of the season.
Newberry tallied six hits, including two each from Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and Whitney Wiles (Iva, S.C.).
Newberry starting pitcher Kristen Hicks (Bamberg, S.C.) (10-8) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs on six hits and walking three batters in four innings in the circle.
The Lady Eagles struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) drew a leadoff walk to get things started and later scored when Hewitt smashed a double to center field to give C-N a 1-0 lead.
C-N added a pair of runs to its lead in the bottom of the fourth. After the Lady Eagles loaded the bases, Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) delivered a single to center field, scoring Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) and Hewitt to give C-N a 3-0 cushion.
Templeton crushed a towering solo shot to left field to lead off the fifth inning for the Lady Eagles and give them a 4-0 advantage.
Newberry scored a run on a Richelle Mirabal (Tampa, Fla.) two-out double down the left-field line to pull to within 4-1, but Templeton was able to get Christine Stokes (Charleston, S.C.) to fly out to end the game.
In the second contest, the Lady Eagles pounded out seven hits. Howard went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in three runs to lead C-N to a 7-2 victory. Howard finished the day with three hits and five RBIs. Hewitt contributed two hits, giving her four hits on the day, and two RBIs.
"(Howard is) swinging the bat real well and making big level contact," Hollifield said. "And I thought Amber Hewitt got two or three really big hits for us. Amber has kind of struggled at the plate as of late, but it's been great to see her come around."
Newberry produced five hits, as Stokes led the way with a 2-for-3 effort.
Shealy (14-9) earned the win as she gave up no runs and just two hits in four innings of work.
Huckestein (15-4) picked up the loss. The junior right-hander worked six innings, surrendered seven runs (five earned) on seven hits and struck out six batters.
Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.) gave Shealy all the run support she needed in the home half of the third as she ripped a single into centerfield, scoring Brianne Coon (Orlando, Fla.) from second to give C-N a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Eagles put the game out of reach with a four-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth. Shealy produced a RBI double. C-N then loaded the bases, and Howard crushed a double to left-center, driving in all three runs to give the Lady Eagles a 5-0 cushion.
Templeton took over for Shealy in the top of the fifth with no outs and the bases loaded and continued right where she left off in the first game. She was able to get out all three batters she faced to end the threat.
"Stephanie has been there before," Hollifield said. "Mary did fine, but I just thought it was time to put Stephanie in there. She's pretty calm in that situation. That's the one you want out there."
C-N pushed its lead to 7-0 by scoring a pair of runs on a two-run single by Hewitt.
Newberry scored its only two runs in the top of the sixth, as Stokes drove in a run with a single and Wiles went home on a throwing error to trim the Lady Eagles' lead to 7-2.
C-N returns to action on Monday in a SAC doubleheader at Brevard. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
