HARTSVILLE, S.C.-
Kaitlyn Cheek (Richmond, Va., JR Tucker) led the Royals offensively and
Brandy Jester (Georgetown, Del., Sussex Central) went to work in the defensive side to give Queens softball the 5-3 win over Lees-McRae in the opening game of the 2011 Conference Carolinas Championship Tournament. The Royals, the No. 4 seed, defeated Lees-McRae, No. 5, for the third time this season. All tournament games are being played in Hartsville, S.C.
Cheek went 3-3 in the game with two doubles and a two-run home run. She leads the team with 10 doubles this season and home runs with five.
Jester pitcher her 23rd complete game of the year and picks up her 12th win. The All-Conference Second Team pitcher struck out eight and gave up six hits.
Queens notched three runs in the third. Cheek led-off the inning with a double and
Megan Lathbury (Georgetown, Del., Sussex Central) and Jester singled. Jester earned the RBI when Cheek scored. A single to left field by
Maria Goode (Charlotte, N.C., Providence) drove in the next two runs.
Cheek hit her home run in the fifth, driving in
Keeya Turner to give Queens a 5-0 lead.
Lees-McRae hit four of their six runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Lindsey Huntsinger hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth giving bringing Lees-McRae within three.
An error by the Queens defense allowed the lead-off batter, Lori Fulmer, on in the seventh. Karli Robb singled to drive Fulmer in, but that is where the Bobcat offense stopped.
Queens plays Pfeiffer at 4pm.
