SALISBURY, N.C. – The No. 9 Georgia College Softball team (12-1) split two games against Belmont Abbey (4-10) and Catawba College (9-0). The Bobcats started their game-riddled weekend strong, defeating Belmont Abbey 7-2, but later fell to Catawba 3-2.

In the first game, Senior Abi LeRoy (Dublin) started the scoring for the Bobcats with a sacrifice bunt in the first inning to score teammate and lead-off batter Baylee Hall (Hephzibah). Once the scoring started, Georgia College didn't take their foot off the gas. Catcher Lacey Najafi (Suwanee) ripped a home run to lead off the second inning. Najafi's shot over the fence wouldn't be the only one for the women in blue in green for the game.

Hall took another stroll around the bases in the third after dropping a home run of her own to start off the inning. Senior Faith Flanders (Dublin) then added to the Bobcat lead, earning an RBI by sending Kristen Brooks (Brunswick), who doubled just before, around the bags.

The fourth inning was quiet for both teams, but the game would turn up in the bottom of the fifth when Taylor Campbell (Warner Robins) decided it was her turn to blast a home run from the designated player spot.

The Bobcats would close the game off in the sixth scoring two more runs off of RBIs from Holland Coursey (Sugar Hill) and Hall. Junior Carly Lewis (Seymour, Tennessee) had another sensational game from the circle, posting an ERA of 2.33 and only allowing two runs.

Game two against Catawba was a much different story. Catawba would take it to the Bobcats early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. The Indians scored all of their runs in the first two innings, including a two run homer in the second.

Georgia College answered in the third as Brooks reached on an error which scored Danielle Bernstein (Cumming). Late in the sixth, LeRoy and Hall linked up for another score earning LeRoy another RBI.

The Bobcats attempted a gallant comeback behind pitcher Marissa Boyette (Marietta), but would never be able to topple Catawba's lead. The loss to Catawba was Georgia College's first of the season.

Bobcat Softball is back in action at home this Tuesday, Feb. 23 in a double header against Albany State University. The two-game series will begin at 3 p.m.                                                                                                                                    

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.