Game 1: Box Score in HTML Format  |  Box Score in PDF Format
Game 2: Box Score in HTML Format  |  Box Score in PDF Format

BURLINGTON, N.C. – The fifth-seeded Shenandoah University Hornets (27-14) won their first ever USA South Softball Tournament Championship by winning three straight games on Sunday, including two over top-seeded Christopher Newport University (31-10). Shenandoah earns the USA South's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Junior starter Brooke Over led the Shenandoah Hornets (25-15) past top-seeded Christopher Newport University (31-9) in the first game of the USA South Softball Championship, forcing a second and deciding contest. A three-run go-ahead inning in the second game was enough for the Hornets to capture the 2011 Championship, as Shenandoah edged CNU, 4-2.

The fifth-seeded Shenandoah Hornets are the lowest seed to win a championship game in the USA South Softball Tournament since the Methodist Monarchs, also seeded fifth, won in 2005.

In game one, Over tossed a complete-game, giving up just one run on six hits to win her fifth game of the tournament. She struck out seven and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Shenandoah jumped on CNU starter Whitney Haller in the top of the second inning, scoring three runs, all with two outs on the board. Jolisa Jones doubled in Denise Mitchell, who had led off the inning with a single. Renoula Jones followed that up with a two-RBI single for the 3-0 lead.

The Hornets tacked on another in the top of the fifth when Shatora Lane singled to left center, driving in Ashley Plaugher. Over gave up just one hit in the first three innings to hold CNU down offensively. The Captains would get their lone score in the bottom half of the fifth after a lead-off base-hit bunt by Kelly Foate. Senior Ashley Mani singled home Foate to end the shutout bid, cutting the lead back to three.

That was as close as CNU would get, though, as Over finished out the game retiring six of the next eight batters. Renoula Jones led the way for Shenandoah, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Lane added two hits in three at-bats with one driven in. Foate was the only Captain with more than one hit, going 2-for-4 with a run.

In game two, CNU struck first, getting a solo homer off the bat of Kristina McLaughlin in the bottom of the first. Foate put the Captains up 2-0 in the second inning, with an RBI single that scored Chelsea Mitchell.

The lead would not hold, though, as Shenandoah scored three runs in the top of the third. Back-to-back singles led off the inning, followed by a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up. Plaugher hit a sacrifice fly and then Morgan Coble tied the game with an RBI single. An error would be the difference in the game, as Shenandoah took the lead when Coble came around to score on a miscue by the pitcher.

The Hornets added another unearned run in the top of the sixth to go up by two, 4-2, and reliever Jordan Wolford earned the win as she kept CNU off the board in over four innings of work. She gave way to Over with one out and two runners on in the bottom of the seventh. Over locked up the save with a popout and a groundout to give Shenandoah their first ever Conference Tournament title.

CNU second baseman Jennifer Falin was named to the All-Tournament Team after hitting .538 in the five games, with two doubles, two homers and a team-high 7 RBI.