MIDDLESBORO, Ky. -- Jody Mizelle connected on a go-ahead,
RBI-single in the bottom of the sixth to lead the top-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears
to a 6-5 come-from-behind win over the fifth-seeded Lincoln Memorial Lady
Railsplitters on day two of the 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference
Championship on Friday at Jacket Softball Field in Middlesboro, Kentucky. Lenoir-Rhyne (39-13) survives
and advances to face Anderson on Friday afternoon, while Lincoln Memorial
(26-17) is eliminated from postseason play.
The Lady Railsplitters, who were ranked eighth in the most
recent NCAA Division II Southeast Region poll, will be bounced from the top
eight in the final poll, which determines the participants for the NCAA
Tournament. Lincoln Memorial concludes its season with a 26-17 mark that
includes a program record 12 league victories.
The Lady Railsplitters took the lead two times and tied it
on one other occasion, but the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears answered at every turn by
scoring in the bottom half of all of LMU's scoring frames.
After a more than hour and half rain delay, the Lady
Railsplitters and Bears traded runs in the third frame. LMU's Brianna Mulkey
(Kettering, Ohio) singled and smartly advanced to the vacant second base. While
attempting to catch Mulkey taking the extra bag, L-R starter MaryAnn Hoskins
threw the ball into right field, allowing Mulkey to take third. She then scored
on a wild pitch. The Bears' Haily Jarman erased that score with a two-out blast
in the bottom of the inning.
The Lady Railsplitters moved back into the driver's seat two
innings later as freshman Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) belted a two-out,
three-run blast to dead center field, her third of the season, in the top of
the fifth. But, Lenoir-Rhyne responded once again. Mizelle trimmed the deficit
to 4-2 with a leadoff home run in the bottom of that inning, while Lauren Elder
came through with a bases-loaded double that skipped past Mulkey in center
field, allowing all three runs to cross.
Lincoln Memorial briefly knotted the game with a Kirstin
Toole (De Bary, Fla.) RBI-single in the top of the sixth, but Mizelle dropped
the eventual game-winning hit just in front of Emilee Solomon (Knoxville,
Tenn.) in left field, scoring Dakota Keller, who led off the frame with a
single.
The Bears outhit the Lady Railsplitters, 10-8, with Mizelle
and Jarman leading the way with a pair of knocks. Elder finished the afternoon
1-for-3 with three RBI, while Mizelle contributed two RBI. Mulkey paced Lincoln
Memorial with three singles and a run scored, while Moose posted a team-high
three RBI.
Hoskins was chased from the contest after 4 2/3 innings, but
Brandi Hole stepped up in relief for the Bears. Hole improved to 20-4 after
allowing only two hits and one runs in 2 1/3 innings. Samantha Smith (Knoxville,
Tenn.) was saddled with the loss for Lincoln Memorial after allowing nine hits
and six runs with four strikeouts in five innings pitched.
