HICKORY, N.C. --- Lenoir-Rhyne University regained first place in the South Atlantic Conference softball standings with a doubleheader sweep of Tusculum College Sunday afternoon. The Bears captured the opener 7-2 and followed up with a 6-1 win in the nightcap, as SAC home run leader Jody Mizelle went deep in each game and Dawon Millwood earned both victories.
The Bears, ranked 10th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II poll, improved to 28-7 overall and 7-1 in the SAC with the win, while the Pioneers dropped to 26-11 overall and 7-3 in SAC play.
Tusculum returns to action Tuesday afternoon with a doubleheader at Carson-Newman beginning at 2 p.m. The Eagles have moved into second place in the SAC at 8-2, a game ahead of the third-place Pioneers.
Game 1: Lenoir-Rhyne 7, Tusculum 2
(Box Score)
Millwood pitched a five-hitter for the complete-game win and Mizelle and Sarah Atkins hit home runs for the Bears in the game one victory.
Mizelle hit a leadoff homer in the first and Atkins added a three-run shot in the fifth to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne offense. Atkins finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four runs batted in and Kat Rivers was 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Bears.
Savannah Ewing led the Pioneers in game one, going 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, and Lindsey Umberger walked twice in four trips to the plate.
The Bears jumped to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Mizelle led off with her 14th home run of the season off Pioneer starter Erin Searcy. Lenoir-Rhyne scored a pair of two-out runs in the third on an RBI double by Tameron Sealey and a bases-loaded walk to Carlee Carpenter.
Tusculum got on the scoreboard in the top of the third as Brooklyn Cress singled with one out, and scored on Ewing's second home run of the season which cut the L-R lead to 3-2. The Bears answered with a run in the bottom of the frame as Rivers led off with a triple and scored on an RBI single by Atkins.
Lenoir-Rhyne extended its lead to 7-2 in the fifth as singles by Rivers and Jessica Fellmeth were followed by a three-run homer to left-center by Atkins, her seventh of the season. Tusculum loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Millwood got a fly ball to left to end the game.
Searcy (12-8) struck out a career-high 10 batters over six innings, but gave up eight hits and seven earned runs while issuing four walks. Millwood struck out six and walked four for the Bears.
Game 2: Lenoir-Rhyne 6, Tusculum 1
(Box Score)
Mizelle and Rivers each hit home runs and Millwood pitched five scoreless innings of relief to pick up her second win of the day as the Bears finished off the sweep of the Pioneers.
Mizelle was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, Carpenter finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and Rivers was 2-for-2 to pace an 11-hit attack for the Bears.
Tusculum managed its only run in the top of the second inning as an RBI single by Paige Sneed drove home Katy Stuckwish to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead.
The Bears tied the game in the third off Pioneer starter Elizabeth Johnson with an unearned run on an RBI single by Atkins, and went ahead in the fourth as a two-out walk was followed by a two-run home run by Mizelle, her 15th of the year. It was the first home run allowed by Johnson this season, spanning 467 batters.
Lenoir-Rhyne added to its lead with two more runs in the fifth to take a 5-1 advantage, on RBI singles by Brandi Haithcock and Sealey. The Bears scored once in the sixth off Tusculum reliever Alesha Buckner when Rivers led off the frame with her first home run of the season.
Johnson (13-3) surrendered five runs (four earned) on 10 hits over five innings, striking out one and walking a pair. Millwood (14-3) worked five innings in relief of starter Lauren Harris for L-R, yielding just one hit and no runs while whiffing four batters.
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