Hornets end Wesleyan softball season, down Bishops 6-4

Burlington, NC - Shenandoah University got a pair of homeruns from sophomore Catherine Beuerle on its way to a 6-4 elimination game victory over North Carolina Wesleyan in Saturday morning's USA South Softball Tournament action. Beuerle hit a two-run shot to centerfield in the first, and after NCWC tied the game in the fourth, she gave her club the lead for good with another two-run blast.  The Bishops, who defeated Peace 10-1 and lost to CNU 6-2 on Friday, end the 2007 season with a 22-13 record.

Down 4-1 in the fourth, Wesleyan tied the contest at 4-4 with three runs on three hits off of Hornet reliever AJ Lekki (8-5). First baseman Courtney Tucker had the only RBI of the frame, driving in Whitney Moshier with a single.

Shenandoah answered in its half of the frame as freshman Jolisa Jones reached on a two-out single.  Beuerle then stepped up and crushed Libby Fulford's (16-9) offering deep for a her school-record second homer of the game, giving the Hornets a 6-4 lead that they would not relinquish.

Beuerle led SU on offense with three hits in four at-bats, while Alicia Sanders, Brittany Bailey, Kristen Templeton, and Jones had two apiece.

NCWC's Ashlee Bass was 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Wesleyan. She plated her team's initial run of the game with a solo home run off of Shenandoah starter Katie Haskins in the third.  Tucker and Moshier also had two hits for coach John Brackett's squad.

In a 10-1 win over Peace on Friday, the Pacers actually scored first with one run in the top of the second off of Fulford, but the Bishops answered with three runs in their next at-bat.  Fulford then settled in for the win.

The junior righty struck out six while also going 2-for-3 with two RBIs at the plate. She drove in the second and third runs for her club with a third-inning single to third base.

The Bishops then fell to top-seeded CNU by a 6-2 score, setting the stage for Saturday's elimination game versus the Hornets.

Wesleyan's 22 wins gave the Bishops back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2001.