ROME, Ga. – The Reinhardt College softball team concluded its 2008 season on Friday at the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament by losing two games – first to the top-seeded Shorter College Lady Hawks, who are ranked No. 9 nationally in the NAIA, and another to the third-seeded Lee University Lady Flames in extra innings. Reinhardt, the No. 4 seed, began the day at Alto Park with a 12-3 loss to the Lady Hawks before falling 3-2 in eight innings to Lee. Shorter is hosting the eight-team, double-elimination event, which is scheduled to conclude on Saturday.  

In the opener, each squad scored a run in the first inning before the Lady Hawks went up 2-1 with another run in the bottom of the third. The Lady Eagles came back to take a 3-2 lead by scoring twice in the top of the fourth inning but Shorter exploded with 10 runs in the bottom half and held Reinhardt scoreless in the top of the fifth, enforcing the eight-run mercy rule.

The hosts had 10 hits and made one error. The Lady Eagles collected eight hits and committed five errors.

For Reinhardt, Shastin Rader (Palmetto, Fla.) went 2-for-2 with a double and run scored while Sarah Brown (Woodstock, Ga.) was 2-for-3 and also scored a run. Cassie Davis (Metter, Ga.) finished 2-for-3 while Casey Hollifield (Dallas, Ga.) ended 1-for-1 with a sacrifice bunt and an RBI. Nicole Rice (Douglasville, Ga.) had a hit in three at-bats while Angela Lack (Woodstock, Ga.) contributed a sacrifice bunt and an RBI. Ashley Bramhall (Houston, Texas) added a run scored.

Tiffany Reeves (Acworth, Ga.) was the Lady Eagles' starting pitcher and went 2⅔ innings, allowing one earned run with two strikeouts, before Alex Riccardi (Americus, Ga.) entered the contest and suffered the loss. Bramhall threw the final inning, giving up one hit and no walks or earned runs.

Against the Lady Flames, Reinhardt went ahead with a run in the top of the first inning before Lee tied the game by scoring once in the second. The Lady Eagles took a 2-1 lead with a run in the third inning but the Lady Flames forced extra innings by pushing a run across in the bottom of the seventh. Lee tallied the winning run on a passed ball in the eighth inning.

The Lady Flames outhit Reinhardt 5-4 and played error-free defensively. The Lady Eagles were guilty of three errors that led to two unearned runs.

At the plate for Reinhardt, Hollifield went 1-for-2 with a run scored while Rader doubled in three at-bats. Davis and Bramhall each had a hit and an RBI while Rice walked and came around to score a run.

In the circle, Bramhall was the starter and tough-luck loser for the Lady Eagles, surrendering six hits and one earned run with three strikeouts and no walks over 7⅓ innings. Riccardi was again used in relief.

Reinhardt finishes the campaign at 32-23 overall and was 13-15 in SSAC regular-season play for fourth place. The Lady Hawks, the SSAC regular-season champions with a 23-5 record, extended their current winning streak to 17 games and are 45-9 overall. Lee improves to 29-19 overall and was 15-13 for third place in the conference regular-season standings.