NEWBERRY, S.C. – Newberry senior Lucki West (College Park, Ga.) belted a walk-off grand slam to break a 6-6 tie in the seventh, lifting Newberry College over the Lady Eagles of Carson-Newman, 10-6, in the first game of Saturday’s softball doubleheader at the Newberry softball complex.  Carson-Newman evened the series with a 4-0 shutout in the nightcap of the first weekend of conference play.  Newberry moves to 19-16, 1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference, while Carson-Newman is now 28-5, 1-1 in the SAC.

Game One: Newberry 10, Carson-Newman 6
West blasted the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the seventh inning, sending it over the center field fence, to open the Lady Indians’ conference season with a win.  C-N starter Megan Elliott (East Ridge, Tenn.) threw one pitch apiece to Courtney Lindler, Christina Kirby, and Brantley Riley, each of whom singled to load the bases with no outs.

Newberry rebounded from a 5-2 deficit entering the fifth, scoring once in the fifth from a Rebecca Backman (Columbia, S.C.) double.  The home team put a three-spot on the board in the sixth to draw even, Jennifer Wilson’s (Orlando, Fla.) single scoring two of those.

Carson-Newman’s Lauren McKaig (Trenton, Ga.) was two-for-three in the game, helping the Lady Eagles to a three-run first inning.  Her two-out single scored Erin Rutherford (Knoxville, Tenn.).  Rutherford’s second-inning single batted in LeAndrea Johnson (Chattanooga, Tenn.) to put the visitors up 4-2.

Kirby (Delmar, Del.) recorded her ninth win on the mound for Newberry, while C-N’s Elliott took only her fourth loss of the season after 18 wins.

Game Two: Carson-Newman 4, Newberry 0
Carson-Newman’s Lyndsi Craig (Roanoke, Va.) spread six hits over seven innings, as Indian runners reached third base only once in a stellar defensive effort in the 4-0 C-N shutout.  Craig improves to 10-1 on the year, striking out one and walking none.

After scoring solo runs in the fourth and sixth, the Lady Eagles added insurance runs in the final frame when first baseman Lisa Rogers (Rossville, Ga.) cleared the bags with a two-run homer to right center.  McKaig was two-for-three, and scored the sixth-inning run to put Carson-Newman up 2-0.

For Newberry, Kayce McLeod (Newberry, S.C.) struck out three and allowed only two earned runs in the loss.  McLeod also pinch ran in the first game, accounting for a run.  Kirby went two-for-three at the plate in the second game, and was three-for-five on the day.

Newberry takes the field next Tuesday, hosting Catawba in conference action at 2 p.m.  The Lady Eagles face Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., tomorrow at 1.