HICKORY, N.C. - The Lander Softball team used six RBI from Abbie Behe (High Point, N.C.) and added insurance from Gracyn Millsaps (Statesville, N.C.), Logan Coward (Wesley Chapel, Fla.), and Gracie Derrick (Chapin, S.C.) to take game one of their season-opening doubleheader against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears, 10-7, before the hosts bounced back in a big way using a seven-run second inning to take game two, 9-1.
Both teams now sit at 1-1 to open their seasons.
Game 1: Lander 10, Lenoir-Rhyne 7
After only five batters reached base total in the first two innings of play, Lander opened the season in grand fashion as Abbie Behe deposited a grand slam down the left field line to give Lander a 4-0 lead in the third inning.
The Bears answered back in the bottom half with a two-run home run to cut the lead in half but Lander got one of those runs back in the top of the fourth as Millsaps left the yard to force a Lenoir-Rhyne pitching change at 5-2, Bearcats.
Lander loaded the bases in the fifth but came up empty handed. However, they didn't squander the same opportunity in the sixth when Behe and Coward each delievered RBI hits to make it 8-2 and force yet another pitching change. Lander continued to keep the pressure on in the seventh adding two more runs on Derricks two-RBI single to make it an eight-run lead at 10-2.
However, the Bears would not go quietly as after being silenced by Taylor Scott (Milledgeville, Ga.) from the third inning on, the Lenoir-Rhyne bats came to life as a lead off solo shot and grand slam saw the lead cut down to three at 10-7, forcing Maddie Gibbs to make a pitching change and bring on Olivia Veidt (Wilmington, Ohio) to try to record the save.
Veidt got the second out of the inning quickly but a hit by pitch, single, and a walk suddenly saw the winning run come to the plate but Veidt would get her to ground out softly to Jordan Sikes at third to secure the win.
Game 2: Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Lander 1 (F/5)
The Bears struck with three home runs in the second inning to put the game on the brink of run-rule territory in the second inning at 7-0.
Derrick scratched a run back in the top of the third but LR got a run back in the bottom half and tacked on another in the fourth and kept Lander off the board to end the game in five.
Lander will open their home slate on Tuesday as they face another South Atlantic Conference for in the Coker Cobras for a doubleheader starting at 2:00 PM at Doug Spears Field.
