Mills earns victory in Reinhardt softball’s opening sweep

From Reinhardt reports WALESKA, Ga.

— No. 16 Reinhardt began the 2017 softball season with a doubleheader sweep of Hiwassee College at Ken White Softball Field Saturday afternoon as the Lady Eagles earned wins by scores of 4-1 and 15-7 (5).

Game One

Former Gordon Central High standout Maci Mills went the distance in the circle in the first start of the year for Reinhardt, allowing just one run on six hits with eight strikeouts for the win. The hurler got offensive help from Taylor Braselton, who stole three bases and scored two of Reinhardt’s four runs. Maddie Evans had a sacrifice fly to score Braselton in the fifth for Reinahrdt’s third run. Later in the inning, an RBI single from Sydney Flowers scored Jessica Baker with the fourth run.

Game Two

The Lady Eagles set the tone early in game two, scoring four runs in the frame with Balie Willis providing the big blow on a triple. Reinhardt put up a five-spot in the second inning, with Willis connecting on a home run in the inning. Flowers, Hannah McKinley, Taylor Weeks, and Braselton all had hits to start the inning, with Evans getting her second sacrifice bunt of the game to stop RU’s hit streak but tacking on a run in the process.

The beat went on in the third with four runs scoring in the frame. Evans had an RBI double in the inning, while Willis added a single to go 3-for-3 in three innings of play. The Lady Eagles ended the game with two runs in the fifth to close the scoring for a runrule win.

Hiwassee scored seven runs in the game, but all seven runs were unearned. Carleigh Myatt earned the win for the Lady Eagles, with Maddie Szalewski pitching in relief.

The Lady Eagles will be back in action Thursday against Lindsey Wilson in Hardeeville, S.C., as part of the NAIA Southeastern Challenge. In other recent college sports news:

BASKETBALL Cheeks’ double-double helps Reinhardt within one win of AAC title WALESKA, Ga.

— No. 23 Reinhardt clinched at least a share of the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season championship and will have the chance to win the title outright as the Lady Eagles defeated Union, 76-60, at the Brown Athletic Center Wednesday night.

Reinhardt leads Milligan by one game in the AAC standings with one game remaining. If the Lady Eagles win at Bluefield, or if Milligan loses at Columbia, Reinhardt wins the AAC regular season championship outright. If the Lady Eagles lose and Milligan wins, the teams share the regular season championship, with Milligan taking the top seed in the conference tournament via head-to-head tiebreaker.

Union led 9-6 in the first quarter, but an 8-0 run by the Lady Eagles gave the home side a 14-9 lead at the quarter break. Former Sonoraville High standout Rebecca Cheeks scored six of the eight points in the run for RU.

Reinhardt kept the momentum going in the second quarter, with a 3-pointer from Danielle Pray and a pair of free-throws by Bria White pushing RU’s lead up to 10 for the first time with just over three minutes gone in the period. The lead hit 14 as White scored 11 points in the quarter to help make it 35-21. Union scored the final five points of the half, however, and the Bulldogs would trail by nine at the half.

The Lady Eagles kept Union at arm’s length throughout the third quarter, with Jada Hubbard drilling a 3-pointer to make it 56-44 after three periods. In the fourth quarter, the two healthy seniors went out in style for Reinhardt. Pray’s traditional 3-point play gave Reinhardt a 70-52 lead late, as the Bethesda, Md., native finished with a season-high 11 points. Woodfin banged home a pair of 3-pointers to close the scoring for Reinhardt to finish with 15 points, pulling within 14 of 1,000 points for her career.

While the senior guards had good nights, it was RU’s post players that helped carry the evening. White led all players in scoring and rebounds with 24 points and 13 boards. Cheeks also added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. RU out-rebounded Union 50-30 in the game, with the Lady Eagles holding a 20-4 advantage on second-chance points.

The Lady Eagles will be back in action this Saturday at Bluefield, with tip-off set for 2 p.m.

BASEBALL Wyatt drives in run in Reinhardt win

Enrique Zamora allowed only four hits and a walk in seven innings of work as Reinhardt shut down No. 17 Middle Georgia State, 11-0, in mid-week baseball action in Cochran, Ga., Wednesday afternoon.

The first true road game of the season for Reinhardt, the Eagles wasted no time in getting on the board first. RBI singles by Abel Nunez and Jacob Cagle helped stake the Eagles to a 2-0 lead after the visiting half of the first inning. In the third, another run came home as Kaleb Swayze’s ground out plated Matt Trawick to make it 3-0.

Reinhardt made it 5-0 in the fourth. Eli Dickens scored on a wild pitch, then Jandi Pena came home later in the inning on a Daniel Rodriguez RBI single.

MGS never got a runner to third against Zamora in his seven innings. He left with an 11-0 lead thanks to a six-run eighth inning for the Eagles. RBIs from former Calhoun High standout Jeremy Wyatt, Rodriguez, Trawick, Nunez, Swayze, and Darius Rudolph put the Eagles well on their way to the win.

The Eagles will be back in action Friday against Morehouse. First pitch at Ken White Baseball Field in Waleska, Ga., is set for 3 p.m.