HICKORY, N.C. - The No. 18 University of North Georgia softball team advanced to Championship Saturday as they run ruled No. 25 Lenoir-Rhyne, 10-0, in six innings Friday afternoon.
North Georgia got started in the second inning, scoring on a Bear throwing error before
Gracie Mixson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Nighthawks an early 2-0 advantage. The bats exploded in the third as
Mallory Parker doubled to score the inning's first run.
Hannah Forehand then stepped up and, after seeing 10 pitches prior, hammered a ball over the left field wall to score three more and push the lead to 6-0.
The Nighthawks put the exclamation point at the end of the winner's bracket game in the sixth by plating four more.
Jolie Lester singled before the Nighthawks pushed across three runs on a pair of ground balls to reach the 10-0 final.
NOTES
-
Delaney Heaberlin (13-7) pitched the complete game shutout, allowing just four hits and a walk while punching out a pair.
- At the plate, Parker, Forehand,
Georgia Blair and
Madi Perry each had two hits.
- Seventh-seeded Wingate defeated Carson-Newman in the first elimination game of the day just hours before beating L-R to advance to the final day of the regional.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will take on Wingate tomorrow at 1 p.m. If the Bulldogs win that game, a second game would be played at 3:30 p.m. UNG only needs one win to advance to the Southeast Super Regional.
