ROME, Ga. – In the opening game of the 2008 Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday morning, the No. 4-seed Reinhardt College softball team defeated the No. 5-seeded Brewton-Parker College Lady Barons 6-3 at Alto Park. Shorter College is hosting the eight-team, double-elimination event, which is scheduled to conclude on Saturday.  

Brewton-Parker scored a run in the top of the first inning but Reinhardt tied the contest by scoring once in the second. The Lady Eagles surged ahead, 5-1, with two runs in each of the third and fourth innings before the Lady Barons trimmed the deficit with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, making it a 5-3 game. Reinhardt added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning and retired BPC in order in the seventh in recording the opening-round win.

The Lady Eagles outhit Brewton-Parker 9-4 and there were three errors in the contest, including two by Reinhardt. The Lady Barons stranded eight baserunners and the Lady Eagles six.

Shastin Rader (Palmetto, Fla.) went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI for the winners while Cassie Davis (Metter, Ga.) finished 2-for-2 with a double, hit-by-pitch, two runs scored and an RBI. Angela Lack (Woodstock, Ga.) ended 2-for-2 and was hit by a pitch while Sarah Brown (Woodstock, Ga.) had a single in two at-bats with a sacrifice bunt and an RBI. Nicole Rice (Douglasville, Ga.) went 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored while Dana Jackson (Griffin, Ga.) also came around to score a run.

In the pitching department, Tiffany Reeves (Acworth, Ga.) was Reinhardt's starter and earned the victory. In 5⅔ innings of work, she allowed four hits and two earned runs with one strikeout. Alex Riccardi (Americus, Ga.) pitched the final 1⅓ innings, giving up no hits or runs while recording a save.

Reinhardt improves to 32-21 overall while BPC is 32-24. The Lady Eagles will now play an SSAC Tournament game on Friday at noon vs. the host and top-seeded Shorter Lady Hawks, ranked No. 9 nationally in the NAIA.