NC West Virginia News

Senators Softball Opens Season at Lenoir-Rhyne, Fall in 3-Game Series

 The Senators Softball team was planning to open their season in a 4-team tournament on Saturday (Feb. 11) but inclement weather left only the host school, Lenoir-Rhyne, available to play. After moving the games up one day at the last minute, D&E faced off with the Bears in a doubleheader on Friday (Feb. 10) and one game on Saturday. The Lenoir-Rhyne squad is one of the stronger teams in the nation, receiving top-25 votes in the preseason NFCA poll. While the Senators ultimately went 0-3 on the weekend, there were several bright spots for the team. 

On Friday, game one was a tough outing for D&E as they faced one of the better pitchers they will likely see this year. Sophomore standout Linzey Allard was the only Senator able to put the ball in play as she ended up saving the team from being no-hit in the game. Defensively, Senior Kailynn Parks played solidly at shortstop and despite the offensive prowess of the Bears team, made some great plays throughout the day. The Senators weren't able to generate any runs and fell in 5 innings with a final score of 0-8. 

Game two was a better game offensively for D&E as Allard and Parks each went 2-for-3 with an RBI and the Senators headed into the bottom of the 2nd inning up 3-0. The Bears came back to go up 4-3, and never really looked back from there. Freshman Trinity Fleming came in to pinch hit in the 6th inning and found a hole to get her first collegiate hit. Parks was once again solid in midfield but the Senators fell 3-11 in 6 innings. 

Game three on Saturday saw the Senators offense come to life as they were able to cross the plate in all but 2 innings, highlighted by Junior Mia Ely's first career home run in the 2nd inning to tie the game at 2. Allard continued her strong performance throughout the weekend, going 2-for-4 while a number of other Senators tallied hits for D&E. Defensively, Pitcher Saylor Kneeland carried the weight of the innings, having some strong moments, but the Bears offense was too much to overcome as the Bears came away with the sweep with a 6-10 final. 

"It's always tough to start our season without being on our field first and then we coupled that with a great opponent," said Head Coach Elle Fracker.  "We saw some good things and some things to build on. There will be plenty of growth in the next few weeks and we are excited to have these opportunities before conference play." 

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