3-6-16
DAHLONEGA | Nighthawk fans got their money’s worth Sunday afternoon with a pair of great games, including an extra-inning walk-off double from Brittani Crawford in the final game of the 2016 Captain D’s Surf & Turf Classic at Hill Stadium to give the University of North Georgia softball team two more victories and claim the tournament crown. UNG improves to 22-5 heading into Peach Belt conference play.
GAME ONE
After never leading in Saturday’s game against Wingate, North Georgia took the early advantage in the second as the Nighthawks took advantage of back-to-back hit batsmen with an Ansley Phillips RBI single to center. Wingate would answer the call in the third, tying the game at 1-1.
Stephanie Hartness delivered what would be the game-winning hit in the fifth with a double into the left center gap to scoreAlexis Collis and give UNG the 2-1 advantage. The Nighthawks added some insurance the next inning with another RBI single from Phillips to score Katie Block and give North Georgia the 3-1 lead that proved final.
GAME TWO
In a true pitcher’s duel, North Georgia and Coker remained scoreless through the first eight innings of play in the final game of the tournament, with neither team having much of an opportunity to score with a combined six hits through the seven regulation innings.
The Nighthawks were finally able to break through in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back singles from Meredith Heyerand Jessica Finch to put the game-winning run in scoring position. Crawford wasted no time coming through with the walk-off double down the left field line to score Heyer and give UNG the 1-0 win.
NOTES
– Courtney Poole (21-1) earned both wins on the day, pitching all 16 innings for UNG. Poole struck out a combined 19, allowing just nine hits without surrendering a walk.
– Crawford, Finch, Heyer, and Phillips all came up with a two-hit game on the day. Crawford, Finch, and Heyer made up six of UNG’s seven hits in the Coker game.
– Sunday’s victory over Wingate was the first in the series for North Georgia. The Bulldogs still own a 4-1 advantage over UNG.
– The Nighthawks are now 3-0 all-time against Coker.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will start conference action next Saturday, March 12, traveling to Armstrong State to start a three-date road swing during UNG’s spring break with stops at Flagler and Georgia Southwestern before retuning to Dahlonega.
