by Alex Cooper, sports information student assistant

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The No. 2-seed Georgia College softball team (44-9) made it to the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Championship Game, but eventually fell to the No. 1-seed University of North Georgia Nighthawks (44-7) by a 2-0 score.

In a game that resumed Sunday after rain suspended play Saturday evening, the Nighthawks needed just two runs to take home their fifth PBC Tournament Title in the last seven years.

North Georgia wasted no time Sunday, scoring in their first at-bat, the bottom of the second. Eventual tournament MVP Jessica Finch sent a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall with two outs for a 1-0 Nighthawk lead.

Finch drove home the second North Georgia run in the fourth on an RBI single, after a runner reached on an error.

Junior Marisa Boyette (Marietta) was the tough-luck loser for the Bobcats, tossing all six innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits. She walked just two and struck out six batters.

Georgia College only had four base runners all game against Nighthawk pitcher Courtney Poole. The lone Bobcat hits came from Lacey Najafi (Suwanee) and Hannah Coursey (Sugar Hill).

The Bobcats attempted a rally in the top of the seventh, putting the leadoff batter on when Abi LeRoy (Dublin) was hit by a pitch. After a flyout, Najafi singled through the left side, putting runners on first and second with one out. A flyout and strikeout would put an end to the rally, however, as Poole finished off the shutout.

Three Bobcats were named to the All-Tournament team: Danielle Bernstein (Cumming), Holland Coursey (Sugar Hill) and Faith Flanders (Dublin).

Georgia College now awaits at large selections for the NCAA regional. The Bobcats were only behind North Georgia in the most recent Southeast region poll.

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.