HICKORY, N.C. – The Barton softball team (7-9) fell to No. 25 Lenoir-Rhyne (14-4), 4-0 and 9-3, Sunday afternoon at Bears Field on the final day of the Bear Bash.
Game One – Lenoir-Rhyne 4, Barton 0
Lenoir-Rhyne's Alissa Russ (Winston-Salem, N.C.) improved to 3-0 on the year after throwing a seven-hit shutout to go along with seven strikeouts. Julia Mardigian (Mechanicsville, Va.) drove in a pair of runs for the Bears.
Barton senior
Miranda Holmes (Godwin, N.C.) fell to 6-3 after suffering the loss despite allowing just one earned run in addition to 12 strikeouts.
Game Two – Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Barton 3
Mardigian added two hits and four runs batted in as the Bears jumped on the Bulldogs early, taking a 7-0 lead after three innings of play on their way to the sweep.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Madison Wilson (Pine Hall, N.C.) improved to 3-1 after earning the win while Lauren Rakes (Hamptonville, N.C.) pitched three scoreless innings for her first save of the year.
For Barton, sophomore outfielder
Makenzie Cyzick (Dayton, Va.) hit a three-run home run but junior
Kierstin Cooper (Nashville, N.C.) (1-1) suffered the loss.
Barton returns home to face Lock Haven in a doubleheader at Jeffries Field on Friday beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Lenoir-Rhyne plays Francis Marion on Wednesday, February 28, at 3:00 p.m., in a doubleheader in Florence, S.C.
