DAHLONEGA – Opening up the final regular season series, the No. 2 University of North Georgia softball team split the first two games of its Peach Belt Conference series against Lander at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park. The Nighthawks took the first game dominantly, defeating the Bearcats (27-15, 16-10 PBC) 11-3 before the bats went cold in the second game, falling 3-0.
North Georgia 11, Lander 3
The Nighthawks got off to a hot start in the series opener, scoring one in the first inning before adding four more in the second. Another three runs in the third inning kept the train rolling as UNG would allow three in the fourth but answered with three of their own in the fifth and sixth innings to take the run-rule victory in six innings.
Kristen Davis (W, 13-1) picked up the win in three and two-thirds innings of action, rolling through the first three frames before running into trouble in the fourth to finish with three earned runs on six hits.
Delaney Heaberlin closed out the final two and one-thirds innings, allowing no hits and no runs.
Jolie Lester sparked the offense in the leadoff spot, finishing with four hits in five trips to the plate and driving in three runs.
Sophie Mooney and
Georgia Blair added two RBIs apiece to the cause, with Mooney recording two hits as
Georgia Blair launched a center-field solo shot in the fifth.
Hannah Forehand finished second on the team in hits, recording three in her four at-bats.
Lander 3, North Georgia 0
The offensive firepower went cold in the second game of the day, as the Nighthawks failed to break through, finishing with four hits, unable to take advantage of two Lander errors in the first inning.
Sophie Mooney finished with two of the four hits, singling in the fourth and the sixth as she reached base three times, getting on by way of an error in the first inning. Mooney was the main contributor at the plate and inside the circle for UNG, pitching two and one-third innings in relief, allowing no runs on just one hit.
Next Up
The Nighthawks will look to take the season series against the Bearcats on Sunday (Apr. 23) with the final regular season game set to begin at 12:00 p.m.
