Tournament Website

DAHLONEGA, GA – The NCAA announced Monday morning that North Georgia will be one of eight host sites for the 2009 Super Regional round of the Division II Softball Championships which will be played around the country May 15-16.

North Georgia will square off with Carson-Newman College in a best of three series with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Salem, Virgina, May 21-15, at the James Moyer Sports Complex. The two programs will take the field Friday evening with game one set for 7:00 p.m., following by game two Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m., with an if necessary game slated for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The Saints advance to the Dahlonega Super Regional after cruising through the Dahlonega Regional with three straight victories. North Georgia claimed the nation’s top spot in the NFCA Division II Top 25 last week and proved worthy of the ranking, extending their winning streak to 23 games and improving to 46-3 on the season.

Sophomore pitcher Sarah Phillips was named the Dahlonega Regional Most Outstanding Player after going 3-0 with an earned run average of 0.33 while striking out 18 batters in 21.0 innings of work. In the Championship game, Phillips (35-1) tossed a complete game no-hitter in the victory, saving her best performance of the tournament for last, using just 78 pitches and facing two batters over the minimum for her 32nd consecutive victory. She sits at 35-1 on the season with a 1.03 earned run average.

Leslee Smith leads the Saints at the plate, hitting .407 with nine home runs and 55 runs batted in, while Courtney McGuire follows closely with a 3.78 batting average and leads the club with 11 home runs. Hilary Cox proved she belonged with the best hitters in the game, recording a .556 batting average over the weekend while driving in a trio of runs.

Carson Newman advances to the Dahlonega Super Regional after completing a sweep of the Hickory Regional last weekend, defeating USC Aiken in the opening round, before taking down host Lenoir-Rhyne twice to claim the Regional Championship. The Eagles enter the weekend having won seven straight games, taking four straight games in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, and three more last weekend at the Hickory Regional.

C-N is led by junior Stephanie Templeton who enters the weekend with a record of 12-2 and an earned run average of 2.60. She has 65 strikeouts in 102.1 innings of work, while recording a team-leading .429 batting average with six home runs and 20 runs batted in. Sarah Little leads the club in home runs with 12 and runs batted in with 53.

Admission for the Dahlonega Super Regional is $10 for adults, $5 for students, and free for children under three years old.