ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman sophomore Lauren McKaig (Trenton, Ga.) hit a two-strike, two-out, bases-loaded single over the second base bag to give the Eagles a 3-2 victory over Newberry College in the opening round of the 2005 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament at Cherry Park in Rock Hill.  Top-seeded Carson-Newman improves to 36-8 and advances to face #4 Catawba in a 3 o’clock second round game.  Newberry (17-30) will play#5 Lenoir-Rhyne in the consolation bracket, also at 3 p.m.

The stage was set for McKaig’s game-winning RBI after Newberry pitcher Kayce McLeod (Newberry, S.C.) retired the first two batters, then allowed Mandy Stevens and Erin Rutherford (both of Knoxville, Tenn.) to reach on singles.  McLeod gave C-N cleanup hitter and conference Player of the Year Lisa Rogers (Rossville, Ga.) a free pass to first to load the bases.  McKaig then produced the final hit, a high bouncer that cleared McLeod’s upstretched glove and that was unreachable by the infield.

Stevens put Carson-Newman ahead in the third with a no-out, bases-loaded single to center that scored Whitney Hickam (Knoxville, Tenn.), but Newberry escaped without further damage. In the fourth, McKaig singled and later scored off Wickham’s RBI groundout to put the Eagles on top 2-0.

Newberry responded in the fifth inning.  First baseman Christina Kirby (Delmar, Del.) singled and was replaced on the base paths by Betsy Shealy (Leesville, S.C.).  Left fielder Ashleigh Anderson (Barnwell, S.C.) drove in Shealy on a two-out single to draw within 2-1.  In the sixth, Indian designated hitter Sarah Lynch (Pompano Beach, Fla.) took the first pitch she saw over the left field wall to even the contest.

SAC Pitcher of the Year Megan Elliott (Chattanooga, Tenn.) recorded her 33rd win of the season, allowing six hits and one earned run.  McLeod surrendered nine hits and an earned run in the loss.