HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Anderson, the second-seeded team in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, rallied for the second time in as many games to knock No. 1 seed Carson-Newman out of the tourney by handing the Eagles a 5-3 setback Friday afternoon at Byerly Park.
With the win, Anderson (37-12) avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Eagles, while advancing to meet seventh-seeded Lincoln Memorial at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. The Trojans will also be seeking to avenge an 8-0 shutout suffered at the hand of the Lady Railsplitters in Thursday's opening round. First-pitch versus Lincoln Memorial is slated for 10 a.m.
Carson-Newman (36-13), which was ranked fourth in last Wednesday's NCAA Southeast Region rankings, will learn its postseason fate a week from Monday.
The Eagles out-hit Anderson, 9-7, on the afternoon but left 12
runners on base, while the Trojans scored three runs over the final
two innings to claim the win.
Senior Jessica Neidigh was 1-for-2 with her career-best 12th home
run of the season, while driving in a run and scoring twice.
Freshman Carli Hurtado added a walk and a two-run single in three
trips to the plate, with freshman Cailah Niles posting a walk and a
single. Freshman Chelsea Jones recorded a pair of RBI with a
first-inning single.
Sophomore Lauren Rudesheim earned her 16th victory of the season by notching her second win of the day. The right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits over seven full innings. She struck out three and walked four.
Carson-Newman jumped out to a quick two-run lead in the top of the first inning, but the Trojans quickly countered with a pair of run in the bottom of the frame. Neidigh and Niles sandwiched walks around a single by junior Molly Child to load the bases, with Jones following by ripping a single back up the middle to plate both Neidigh and Child and knot the score at 2-2.
The Eagles briefly regained a one-run lead in the top of the fourth inning, but Neidigh evened the score at three apiece with a homer to lead off the fifth inning.
Two innings later, the Trojans' Rebecca Martin scored the
go-ahead run and Courtney Czentnar added an insurance run on
Hurtado's single to center field.
