Softball
North Georgia Takes Home Championship
FLORENCE, SC – The University of North Georgia and Columbus State
University took the field to begin the PBC softball tournament championship game, but a full day of wet weather was too much to overcome
and the game was cancelled. With the game heading to the bottom of
the second inning, field conditions at FMU Stadium were deemed unplayable and the championship over.
The game was the fourth of the day on the field, which held up
remarkably well considering the amount of rain received over the previous 24 hours.
Per PBC rules, North Georgia was awarded the title of Tournament
Champion as the highest remaining seed. The Nighthawks, who were
the top seed in the event, win the tournament for the fourth time in the
last six years.
Columbus State’s Lindsey DeFee was named the tournament MVP.
DeFee hit .800 in CSU’s two games with a 2.000 slugging percentage,
two home runs and five RBIs. She was also 2-0 in the circle including all
nine innings with over 200 pitches thrown in the semifinal win against
Armstrong.
North Georgia, ranked #4 in the nation, receives the PBC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The full tournament field will be
announced on Monday, May 5.
NCAA Softball: USC Aiken Claims First-Ever Victory In
NCAA Tournament Play
ANDERSON, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken softball team
earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Georgia College Saturday afternoon, marking the first time the squad had ever picked up a win in the
NCAA Tournament.
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After India Kornegay retired the side in the top of the first, fellow
senior Kaitlyn White blasted a line-drive triple to right field to lead off
the bottom half of the frame. With two down, Andrea Daring put the ball
in play, sending it to third base. However, a fielding error allowed Daring
to reach first safely and White to score, making it a 1-0 contest in favor of
head coach Jerry Snyder’s team.
The solo run was more than enough for Kornegay, who tossed a
complete-game one-hit shutout while striking out seven batters. By
striking out seven, she surpassed the 300 strikeout plateau in a single
season, marking the first time that has been done in school history.
Georgia College threatened in the top of the fourth as the had two
runners on, thanks in part to an error, but Kornegay managed to get one
batter to swing for a third strike before Sam Chubb caught a foul pop fly,
ending the threat.
In the bottom of the fifth, Snyder’s squad had runners on second and
third with one down, but two straight fly ball outs ended the stanza.
The Pacers capitalized in the sixth inning. With one down, Chubb
laced a single to center field and promptly moved to second when Magan
Thrower drew a walk. Ashley Metts launched a double to the gap in right
center, scoring Chubb for the 2-0 margin.
Going back to the circle, Kornegay looked to complete the game and
did so o, retiring three straight batters to end the game. Two outstanding
plays in the field by Madison Labrador enabled the Pacers to close out the
game in fine style.
Whitney Okvist claimed the lone hit for Georgia College, a double
in the top of the third. Marisa Boyette took the loss to fall to 12-7 for the
Bobcats, pitching all six innings with one earned run allowed, one walk,
five hits and four strikeouts.
The Pacers improve to 33-15 overall and will play Anderson tomorrow at 12 p.m., and could possibly play three games tomorrow in the
2013-14
double-elimination tournament. Should USC Aiken win at 12 p.m., the
team would take on Armstrong at 2:30 p.m., and could play for the third
time in the afternoon at 5 p.m., in a rematch with the Pirates.
NCAA Softball: Region Champs Again! No. 19 Pirates
Win, 12-10, To Earn Ticket To Salem!
DAHLONEGA, Ga. - The No. 19-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University softball squad used a big sixth inning to defeat No. 2-ranked North
Georgia, 12-10, winning the 2014 NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional on Saturday afternoon and advancing to the DII Softball National
Championships.
The best-of-three Super Regional saw North Georgia take Saturday’s first contest, 7-5, with three runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Armstrong had won the first game of the Super Regional, 3-2, on Friday.
The Pirates (35-13) make their second straight trip to the NCAA Division
II Softball National Championships in Salem, Va., on May 22-26. North
Georgia sees its season come to a close with a 47-11 record.
The Pirates trailed, 5-4, in the bottom of the fifth inning of the deciding contest as North Georgia’s Victoria Prince delivered an RBI single
to snap a 4-4 tie and give the Nighthawks the lead.
Armstrong then delivered a big eight-run sixth-inning, capitalizing on three North Georgia errors and getting a key two-run RBI double from Peyton Roth, an RBI single by Andrea Dalton and sacrifice flies
from Hannah Reppert and Kacie Patterson in the frame to take a 12-5
lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, North Georgia rallied with
five runs - getting RBI singles from Courtney Poole and Meredith Heyer
as well as taking advantage of an Armstrong error to close the score to
12-10 with the tying runs on first and third. Ollivia McLemore retired
the final two batters on a pair of groundouts, however, to preserve the
victory.
McLemore (24-6) hurled seven innings, giving up 14 hits and 10
runs - only three earned - while walking three to notch the win for the
Pirates. Roth went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs to lead
the Pirates at the plate, while Hannah Reppert had two hits and two
RBIs and Andrea Dalton went 2-for-5 with three RBIs.
2013-14
2014 Softball
All-Conference Team
First Team
1b – Kim McMillan, North Georgia
2b – Lauren Bessent, Flagler
3b – Taylor Campbell, Georgia College
SS – Alexis Mercer, Armstrong
C – Casey Googe, Columbus State
OF – Whitney Okvist, Georgia College
OF – Taylor Cloninger, UNC Pembroke
OF – Mackenzie Conley, Flagler
P – Victoria Sink, North Georgia
P – India Kornegay, USC Aiken
DP – Lacye Walker, Armstrong
UT – Kaitlyn White, USC Aiken
At-Large – Kristie Hanewinckel, Francis