ROCK HILL, S.C. - After wrapping up the regular season with six straight wins and 12 victories in its last 16 contests, the Anderson University softball team has earned the second seed in next week's South Atlantic Conference Tournament, as announced by the conference office early Sunday night.
Anderson, the defending tournament champion, will square off against seventh-seeded Lincoln Memorial Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. at Byerly Park in Hartsville, S.C. This year's league tournament is being hosted by Coker College.
The Trojans enter the tourney looking for their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning both the SAC regular-season title and tournament championship a year ago, while reaching the 2013 Savannah Super Regional at Armstrong Atlantic State.
Anderson (35-11, 16-6 SAC) will be meeting the Lady Railsplitters (22-22, 11-11 SAC) for the third time this season, after splitting a doubleheader in Harrogate, Tenn. in late March. The Trojans rallied for an 8-5 win in extra innings over LMU in the opener, but was unable to replicate the feat in the nightcap, falling 6-4, at Neely Field.
Senior Jessica Neidigh homered twice to lead Anderson offensively, as the Trojans rallied from a late two-run deficit in the first contest, but AU stranded 18 runners on the day and it proved costly in the second game . Sophomore Courtney Czentnar was 3-for-7 in the twin bill, with a double, while freshman Carli Hurtado added a double, a single and two RBI.
Freshman Chelsea Jones went the distance in the circle for the Trojans in game one, allowing five runs (four earned) off nine hits over the eight innings, while striking out five and issuing just one free pass.
LMU closed the regular season by winning four contests during an eight-game homestand. The Lady 'Splitters opened the stretch by sweeping Brevard, but were swept by both Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate, as they dropped four of their final six decisions.
The winner of Thursday afternoon's showdown will advance to meet the winner of the No. 3 seeded Catawba/No. 6 seeded Lenoir-Rhyne contest on Friday morning at 10 a.m. The loser will drop into the elimination bracket of the double-elimination tournament and meet either Catawba or L-R.
Thursday, April 23 (at Hartsville, S.C.)
#3 Catawba vs. #6 Lenoir-Rhyne, 10:00am
#2 Anderson vs. #7 Lincoln Memorial, 12:30pm
#1 Carson-Newman vs. #8 Coker, 3:00pm
#4 Wingate vs. #5 Newberry, 5:30pm
Friday, April 24 (at Hartsville, S.C.)
Loser GM 1 vs. Loser GM 2 (alt. site), 10:00am
Loser GM 3 vs. Loser GM 4 (alt. site), 12:30pm
Winner GM 2 vs. Winner GM 3, 10:00am
Winner GM 1 vs. Winner GM 4, 12:30pm
GM 7 loser vs. GM 5 winner, 3:00pm
GM 8 loser vs. GM 6 winner, 5:30pm
Saturday, April 25 (at Hartsville, S.C.)
GM 9 winner vs. GM 10 winner, Noon
GM 7 winner vs. GM 8 winner, 2:30pm
GM 11 winner vs. GM 12 loser, 5:00pm
Sunday, April 26 (at Hartsville, S.C.)
GM 12 winner vs. GM 13 winner, 1:00pm
