4/9/17
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The 12th-ranked University of North Georgia softball team pulled out a pair of gritty wins against rival-Young Harris Saturday afternoon at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium in a matchup of two of the league’s top four teams entering the day. The Nighthawks move to 35-9 on the season with the victory and are now just half a game out of first place in the Peach Belt Conference standings at 15-4.
GAME ONE
North Georgia got on the board early scoring a run on a sacrifice fly to left by Jessica Finch in the second. Young Harris answered in the next frame though with an RBI double to tie the game at 1-1.
Shelby Hammontree put UNG back on top in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run home run to give the Nighthawks a 3-1 lead. The two teams went on to trade runs in the sixth to give the game its final score, 4-2.
Freshman Kylee Smith (20-3) earned the win in the circle allowing just two runs on five hits and five walks. Smith recorded seven strikeouts in her seven-innings pitched.
GAME TWO
North Georgia jumped out to an early lead in the second game of the day scoring four runs in the first two innings that included a two-run homer by Sydney Sprague in the second.
The Mountain Lions would not go quietly though, scoring the next three runs of the game in the fourth and fifth innings, pulling within one run, 4-3. Hammontree provided some separation in the bottom of the fifth however, smacking her second home run of the game, another two-run shot, to stretch the UNG lead out to 6-3.
Kaylyn Anthony added a final run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double to center that gave North Georgia the 7-3 lead that proved final.
Bria Bush (6-4) picked up her first career Peach Belt Conference victory, throwing 3.1 innings of relief, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks while recordings a pair of strikeouts.
NOTES
– Kaylyn Anthony, Lexi Duncan, Alishia Frierson, and Stephanie Hartness led the way at the plate with three hits each on the day.
– UNG welcomed back alumni from the first 20 seasons of the softball program and honored them along with the first head coach of the North Georgia softball program, Ricky Sanders, in between games.
– North Georgia improves to 12-1 all-time against Young Harris with the two wins. UNG is 9-0 against the Mountain Lions at Hill Stadium.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will welcome Union (Tenn.) to Hill Stadium on Tuesday, April 11. First pitch for the twin bill 1 p.m.
