Eagles Triumph Over Southeastern 6-4 for Opening Round of Ashland Bracket

Ashland, OR. -  The Reinhardt softball team earned an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament after winning the 2023 AAC Regular-Season. The Eagles headed to Ashland, Oregon to compete against 3 other teams for the NAIA Opening Round. In the double-elimination bracket, third-seeded Reinhardt is set to play at host school Southern Oregon, along with Southeastern and Vanguard. The first game of the tournament was played on Monday, May 15^th, between #3 Reinhardt and #2 Southeastern. The Eagles were able to come out on top 6-4 over SEU after building a 5 to nothing lead. The Eagles will now be playing #4 Vanguard the following day at 2pm EST. 

 Game One: Reinhardt 6, Southeastern 4

Reinhardt got off to a 5-0 lead beginning in the top of the third inning with a single from Alexis Teems to the get the first run on the board. Then in the fourth, Molly Stevens hit a double to center field to get both Kylie Frejie and Alexis Griffith to home. Kylie Freije also had a double hit in the fourth to swing in another run. In the top of the 5^th, a single up the right side by Kyra Lightner led to a 5-run lead for the Eagles. While Southeastern was able to get 2 runs in both the 5^th and 7^th innings, Reinhardt secured the win with 6 runs to 4 to stay on the winning side of the bracket. 

 Leaders:

• Kylie Frejie led offensively, going 2-4 at bat with and RBI and scored a run.  
• Molly Stevens had 2 RBIs, while Alexis Teems and Kyra Lightner each added 1. 
• Alexis Teems stole 2 bases while Emily Loveless stole one.  
• Whitney Shepherd was the winning pitcher with 6 strikeouts, 65 total strikes, and allowed 12 hits.

 Team Comparison: 

Runs: 6-4 RU

Hits: 12-9 SEU

Errors: 2-1 SEA

 Up Next: The Reinhardt Eagles softball team will be moving on to play Vanguard the following day, May 16^th, at 2pm EST.