HICKORY, N.C. -- The Mercyhurst softball team dropped a pair of contests, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne and Lees-McRae, on Friday on day one of the Lenoir-Rhyne Bear Bash. Individual recaps are below.

Game One: Lenoir-Rhyne 6, Mercyhurst 3
Rachel DiBartolomeo batted 2-for-4 with a triple, double and run in the season opener for Mercyhurst (0-2). Jamie Ward added a 2-for-3 game and Cassandra Egelston doubled.

The Lakers fell behind 5-0 in the second inning before scoring on an error in the third to trim their deficit to 5-1.

Host Lenoir-Rhyne tacked on a run in the fourth, increasing its advantage to 6-1.

Emily Hair drove in a run during Mercyhurst's two-run sixth to finish out the scoring.

Heather Nye was the losing pitcher, working 1 1/3 innings. L-R scored four runs against Nye, but only two were earned.

Sarah Eschleman worked three innings of scoreless relief.


Game Two: Lees-McRae 9, Mercyhurst 6
Lees-McRae rallied for five runs in the seventh to take the win.

DiBartolomeo led the Laker offense, going 2-for-4 with a double, run and stolen base. Hair was 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run. Jamie Ward added a triple and Jolene Teller doubled.

Hair delivered an RBI single, giving MU a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

L-M tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth before an RBI triple from Ward put the Lakers back in the lead at 2-1 in the fifth.

After Lees-McRae scored three times in the sixth, Mercyhurst answered with a four-run sixth. Teller ripped an RBI double, Hair had an RBI groundout, Arainna Brone had an RBI single and Egelston drew an RBI walk. That set the stage for L-M's game-deciding seventh inning.


The Lakers will play two more games on Saturday against Concord and Virginia Wise.