JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Georgia College softball squad (23-19) split in a non-conference matchup at the Carson-Newman College Eagles (22-16) Wednesday afternoon, losing the first 16-8 and taking the second 3-0.

The game one fireworks started early with the Eagles jumping out to a 5-0 lead, aided by a Caitlyn Lance home run to left field bringing in two Eagles. The Bobcats would answer in the third with a Haley Burnett (Columbus, Ga.) three-run homer to the gap in left.

After adding two in the third and three in the fourth GC would answer with five in the fifth, when Frankie Walls (Dahlonega, Ga.) singled, driving in two Bobcats. Carson-Newman pushed four across in the fifth to eight-run rule the Bobcats.

Sabrina Chandler (Covington, Ga.) drew the short end of the stick giving up six runs, only two earned. Chandler's record evens out to 8-8. Burnett finished 1-for-2 with three RBI, one run scored and one home run. Walls finished 1-for-3 with two RBI.

In game two, freshman Erica Bell (Fayetteville, Ga.) pitched an unbelievable game, scattering two hits over seven innings, fanning five. The rookie's record advances to 8-2. Bell's help didn't arrive until the fifth inning when Whitney Okvist (Kennesaw, Ga.) singled up the middle plating the eventual game-winning run. The Bobcats would add two more in the sixth on a two-RBI single by Walls.

Okvist finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and a stolen base. Walls' single came on a pinch-hit at-bat, her only one of the game. Okvist's single-season stolen base mark increases to 48. Already the GC record, that total ranks third, passing USC Aiken's Sara Donnelly from 2000. Second place is owned by Danielle Peters of UNC Pembroke, swiping 53 in 2006.

Burnett is currently fourth on the all-time home run list at GC with 22, two behind first place in GC history.

The Bobcats pick up Peach Belt Conference (PBC) play against Columbus State University Thursday, April 5 set to begin at 4 p.m.

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/BobcatSports and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.