MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — In a rivalry matchup that had seen one-sided results for the past eight years, Georgia College got the best of the second-ranked University of North Georgia softball team Friday evening at the Peeler Complex in Milledgeville, sweeping the Nighthawks with a 5-4 late-inning comeback win in game one and a 7-3 victory in game two. UNG slips to 27-9 on the year with the pair of setbacks and is now 7-4 in Peach Belt Conference play.
GAME ONE
Things looked good for the Nighthawks early as UNG took a 3-0 lead after one with a three-run homer to left by
Kaylyn Anthony in the first. North Georgia extended the lead to 4-0 in the third, pushing a run across with four walks.
Georgia College plated a run in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single but sparked what proved to be the game-winning rally in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff single followed by a Faith Flanders two-run homer to center that pulled the Bobcats to within one. After back-to-back walks and a passed ball, the Bobcats tied the game up with a sacrifice fly and scored the go ahead run with single through the right side.
Kylee Smith (16-4) was tagged with the loss officially pitching six innings, although
Amber Johns did enter to pitch in the bottom of the sixth but never recorded an out before Smith re-entered the game. Smith allowed three runs on seven hits with three walks and a strike out.
GAME TWO
The Bobcats got out to an early lead scoring three unearned runs in the bottom of the first aided by an error on the North Georgia infield. The Nighthawks got the runs back in the top of the third with a two-run single by
Alishia Frierson and a Georgia College throwing error tied the game at 3-3.
It would all be for not though as the Bobcats put together an impressive rally with three runs on four singles in the bottom half of the third and Georgia College never looked back cruising to the 7-3 win.
Bria Bush (5-4) was tagged with the loss in relief allowing four runs on 11 hits, three walks and a strikeout.
NOTES
- While the team total in hits in each game were not extremely low, UNG did not have a single player produce more than one hit in either game.
- North Georgia had been dominant in the past 23 games against Georgia College, holding a 19-4 advantage over the Bobcats in that stretch.
- The last time Georgia College swept UNG in a regular season doubleheader was on March 22, 2008 in Dahlonega.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will look to get back to their winning ways on Sunday with their last scheduled away games of the regular season with a doubleheader at Augusta. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
