Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Needing a pair of victories to advance to championship day, the Georgia College Softball team (41-17) did just that, winning twice Friday to stay alive in the NCAA Southeast Regional #1 at the University of North Georgia.
The No. 5-seed Bobcats beat No. 8-seed Young Harris College (32-20) 6-2 in the first game, following that up with a revenge 3-0 victory over national No. 25 and No. 4-seed Catawba College (39-16) to close out the day's action. The two wins put the Bobcats in a matchup with national No. 4 and No. 1-seed North Georgia tomorrow, needing to beat the Nighthawks twice to advance to the SuperRegional round for the second-straight season.
Game one featured a herculean effort from designated player Taylor Campbell (Warner Robins), driving in five of the team's six runs with an RBI single and a grand slam. She got the scoring started in the second, singling to center to plate rightfielder Caroline Snider (Tennille), who also reached on a single.
An inning later, the Bobcats sent eight batters to the plate, the first three recording hits. Second baseman Abi LeRoy (Dublin) led off with a single, followed by a single from catcher Lacey Najafi (Suwanee). Next, third baseman Kristen Brooks (Brunswick) doubled to center to score LeRoy. A walk and an out later, Campbell took a 1-1 pitch over the leftfield fence for a 6-0 lead. The home run was her ninth of the season and the 23rd of her career, putting the senior a single blast from second place in school history.
Righty starter Carly Lewis (Seymour, Tennessee) went the distance in the victory (21-9) silencing the Mountain Lion bats outside of a two-run home run in the fourth from catcher Grace Botti. Lewis scattered five hits and three walks for the win.
In game two, freshman righty Brooke Taylor (Powder Springs) dazzled, shutting out Catawba on just four hits and not walking a single batter. Taylor improved to 8-2 by nabbing a win in her first postseason start. She faced the minimum in four different innings over the course of the game.
Centerfielder Danielle Bernstein (Cumming) powered the offense with a 4-for-4 day, scoring twice, stealing a base and making a diving catch in center. She scored the first run in the first on a wild pitch.
The Bobcats doubled their lead with a LeRoy RBI single in the third, then leftfielder Holland Coursey (Sugar Hill) followed Snider's double with one of her own for the final run of the game in the fourth.
The Bobcats are back in action tomorrow, May 7 at 1 p.m. in need of two wins against the Nighthawks to advance to next weekend.
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.
