Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  

Wingate, N.C.----The visiting Carson-Newman University Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one, hanging on for a 5-4 win while adding a 4-1 victory in game two to complete the sweep in South Atlantic Conference softball action Saturday afternoon. Carson-Newman improves to 19-9 overall and 4-2 in the SAC. Wingate falls 15-14-1 overall and 1-5 in the SAC.

Game one:  Carson-Newman 5, Wingate 4

Carson-Newman improved its record to 4-3 in one-run games while handing Wingate its fourth one-run loss in conference play with its 5-4 game one win over the Bulldogs. 
Carson-Newman did its damage in the first and fifth innings. After Kelli Hensley (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled through the right side to lead off the opening inning, Elayna Siebert (Knoxville, Tenn.) walked and Bri Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.) was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded and no one out, Brittany Hefner (Talbot, Tenn.) knocked a single to left to plate Hensley for her 58th RBI of the season. 

Bethany Davis (Nicholasville, Ky.) then sacrificed in Shoemake on a ground ball to the second baseman. Braleigh Angel singled to centerfield to score the final run of the inning for the Eagles.

Wingate had the answer, scoring twice in the third and once in the fourth to tie the game. Senior outfielder Kasey Pendley (Marion, N.C.) lined a two-out double, then scored when freshman outfielder Shannen Adams (Ayden, N.C.) reached on an error. Senior outfielder Kelsey Maffucci (Rockledge, Fla.) added an RBI double to make it 3-2.

An RBI single from sophomore infielder Brittany Owens (Greenville, N.C.) tied the game at three.  

In the fifth, the Eagles loaded the bases again with no one out. Hefner turned on a 1-0 pitch and singled through the left side to put the Eagles up a run. Wingate freshman right-hander Stacey Houser (Mooresville, N.C.) ended the inning and the threat with a strikeout a flyout and a groundout. 

Freshman catcher Taylor Laskey (Cherryville, N.C.) ripped an RBI double to right center in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-4.

The Eagles would take the lead for good in the sixth when Jessica Morgan (Ooltewah, Tenn.) knocked a two-out, 3-1 pitch into left center to plate Caitlyn Lance (East Ridge, Tenn.) from second. 

Wingate got the tying run aboard in the bottom of the seventh with two out, but on a Laskey grounder to short, Hefner turned and went to Morgan at second to get the lead runner and end the game. 

Hensley went three-for-four at the dish to lead the Carson-Newman attack. She came around to score twice. Hefner added to her nation's best RBI total with her pair of bases loaded singles. 

Kaitie Sims (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) collected her 11th win in the circle (11-1) after scattering eight hits. Two of the four runs she allowed were unearned.  Sims threw 91 pitches, 52 of which were strikes.

Maffucci and Laskey were both one-for-four with a double and an RBI each to lead the Wingate attack. Houser took the loss for Wingate, falling to 10-7.

Game two: C-N 4, Wingate 1

Sara Kelley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) sent a shot just to the right of the flag pole in center for a leadoff home run in the fourth. Cassie Elliot (Johnson City, Tenn.) added a solo homer in the fifth to put the Eagles on top 3-0.  

The Eagles would add another run in the sixth when Kelley came around to score on a Siebert single up the middle. 
Wingate sophomore shortstop Alexis Burrell (Chesapeake, Va.) hit her ninth home run of the season in the sixth to get the Bulldogs on the board, but Wingate would draw no closer than the final margin 4-1. 

Cassie Lyons (Knoxville, Tenn.) got the wine for the Eagles, improving to 8-8. Sophomore right-hander Miranda Paul (Virginia Beach, Va.) took the loss, falling to 5-7 on the season.

Wingate returns to action Tuesday, hosting Bloomsburg at 2 p.m.