HICKORY, N.C. - The Newberry College softball team lost in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament to Catawba College, 4-2. Newberry, who was seeded fourth in the tournament, will now face the loser of the Wingate/Brevard game.

NC takes on Wingate/Brevard tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at Hickory High School. The scarlet and gray split the season series with Wingate and swept Brevard.

Final Score: Catawba 4, Newberry 2 - Box Score
In the opening game of the SAC tournament, Catawba jumped out to an early lead as they put up two runs in the first inning. A Brittany Thornburg down the right-field line scored the first run of the game as Ryann Baker came across home plate.

The next batter, Jessie Whitesides, singled to center field scoring Thornburg from second to give Catawba a 2-0 lead after one inning.

The scarlet and gray cut Catawba's lead in half in the fourth inning as a Richelle Mirabal (Tampa, Fla.) fielder's choice scored Christine Stokes (Charleston, S.C.), who reached base on a double.

Newberry was unable to withhold Catawba from scoring again as the Indians added two more runs in the sixth inning to increase their lead to 4-1. Carly Sabat's single with the bases loaded plated two runs in the inning.

NC was able to avoid more damage in the inning as Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.) recorded a strikeout and a fly out against the next two batters.

The offense responded for Newberry in the bottom of the sixth inning with one run to once again cut Catawba's lead in half.

Gatewood jump-started Newberry's offense with a single down the left-field line and then advanced to third on a Mirabal single up the middle.

With the bases loaded, Amy Jarrell (Dover, Del.) brought in NC's second run of the game with a fielder's choice scoring Gatewood from third base. However, Newberry was unable to add more runs in the inning to further cut into Catawba's lead.

The scarlet and gray almost rallied to win in the final inning as Kat Hammond (Irmo, S.C.) doubled to center field with one out in the inning. Huckestein followed Hammond with a single down the left-field line advancing Hammond to third.

Unfortunately, Newberry stranded both runners as two fly outs ended NC's chance for a comeback. Huckstein garnered the loss for Newberry as she drops to 18-5 on the year with her six-strikeout performance.

Live statistics for tomorrow's 1:30 p.m. game against Wingate/Brevard can be found at Lenoir-Rhyne's website.