by Mark Jagord, sports information assistant

>>>BUY PHOTOS

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia College softball team (1-1) started the 2014 stanza with a split against the University of West Alabama (1-1), winning the first, 1-0 and losing the second 3-2.

Senior Whitney Horton's (Acworth, Ga.) fifth inning home run and sophomore Marisa Boyette's (Marietta, Ga.) shutout and eight strikeouts would be all the Bobcats would need in the opening game. The pitching duel with the Tigers' Jessica Brock produced four hits for each team with senior Whitney Okvist (Kennesaw, Ga.) topping all Bobcat hitters with a pair.

The second game was tied until the Tigers got the go-ahead run in the fifth inning.  The Bobcats got both their runs in the first. Sophomores Kristen Brooks (Brunswick, Ga.) and Abi LeRoy (Dublin, Ga.) scored and Georgia College could not muster any more runs the rest of the way. West Alabama tied the game in the third before taking the lead in the fifth. Okvist again led the way with three hits, and freshman pitcher Carly Lewis (Seymour, Tenn.) went the distance and took the loss while allowing six hits.

The Bobcats look to start a win streak tomorrow, hosting Queens University at 2:30 p.m. The earlier doubleheader starts at 10 a.m. with Georgia Southwestern University taking on West Alabama at the Peeler Complex. 

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 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 @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.