MEMPHIS - The Rhodes College softball team split their home opener on Saturday afternoon, pounding out 13 hits in a 12-5 win over Westminster, before a big 6th and 7th inning resulted in an 11-3 loss to Maryville.

After the Blue Jays of Westminster scored two runs in the first, Rhodes responded with a huge four run first innings thanks to a two RBI double from junior Kirsten Samuels, scoring senior Christine Hume and junior Caroline Sutton. Samuels would score on an error while freshman Anna Kula had a RBI single to second for a 4-2 lead.

Westminster responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second to tie it at four, but Rhodes responded with a huge bottom half of the second as they put up five runs to move ahead 9-4.

After an error scored two runs, sophomore Kendall Henry ripped a double to dead center, scoring Hume and senior Aubrey Blackstock followed by a RBI single from Kula. The Lynx had four hits in the inning as they broke the game open.

After allowing four runs on five hits to go with two walks in the first two innings, sophomore Bri Maniscalco settled in and was great the final five innings, allowing only one run on four hits and striking out a pair as she cruised, keeping Rhodes on top. She earned her first win of 2017 for the complete game.

Sophomore Haley Rath singled in a run in the fifth while Henry smashed her second two RBI double of the day as Rhodes finished the game with a 12-5 victory.

Henry was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored while Kula was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Freshman Kayla Rose added a 2-for-4 day with a run scored and two stolen bases while Samuels drove in two on a double. Hume scored three runs while Sutton, Samuels, and Henry each scored two.

In game two against Maryville, the Scots took a 1-0 lead in the third, but Rhodes responded with two runs on wild pitches as Rose and Sutton crossed home for a 2-1 lead.

Maryville tied it at two in the fourth and took a 4-2 lead in the fifth after a big two RBI single from Alexus Murray with two outs to go ahead 4-2. A Blackstock RBI single in the bottom of the fifth made it a one run game, but the Scots exploded for five runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to pull away for the 11-3 win.

Rose and Henry each went 2-for-3 with Rose, Sutton, and Hume all scoring a run. Junior Allison Long took the loss, pitching 5.0 innings and allowing six earned runs on nine hits to go with two strikeouts.

The Lynx start the year 1-1 and will get another shot at Maryville and Westminster tomorrow afternoon on Super Bowl Sunday. The Lynx and Scots will battle at 12 PM followed by the Lynx and Blue Jays at 2 PM.