March 14, 2010

Game 1 | Game 2

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL – The top-ranked North Georgia softball team continued to roll through their Peach Belt Conference schedule on Sunday afternoon, traveling to Florida and sweeping a doubleheader 4-0 and 6-0 from new league member Flagler College.

North Georgia stays undefeated on the season, running their mark to 21-0 overall, while keeping their name atop the Peach Belt Conference standings at 6-0 in league action. Flagler College drops their mark to 16-14 overall and back to .500 in conference play at 2-2.

In game one, both pitchers tossed zeros on the scoreboard until the fifth inning when Katherine Martin doubled, and later came around to score on a clutch two-out single off the bat of freshman Callie Fernandez to give North Georgia a 1-0 lead.

Hilary Cox provided another run in the sixth inning, sending a double to left field to bring Lauren Dykes to the plate who led off the inning with a single, providing a 2-0 lead for the visiting Saints.

North Georgia’s final at-bat of the opener provided a pair of insurance runs as Natasha Willemse followed Katherine Martin’s second double of the day with a two-run blast to left field, putting a cap on the scoring for the game as the Saints ran away with the 4-0 victory in the opener.
   
Sarah Phillips grabbed the victory in game one, allowing just one hit while striking out a season-high 12 batters. Phillips continued to be the story in game two, tossing her 13th complete game shutout of the season, this time allowing just two hits while striking out 11 batters and not allowing a walk to run her record to 15-0 on the year. For the doubleheader, the junior logged 14 innings with 23 strikeouts and just three hits allowed, lowering her league-leading earned run average to 0.55.

The offense in the finale for North Georgia came courtesy of a single run in the second, two in the fourth, and three insurance runs in the seventh for the 6-0 victory.

Following an unearned run in the second frame off a wild pitch, the Saints came back in the fourth inning and manufactured two more runs, this time plating a pair off two Flagler errors to take a 3-0 lead.

In the seventh, the big bats came to play for North Georgia as Courtney McGuire launched a two-run homer down the right field line, and Leslee Smith followed and gave fans back-to-back bombs, belting a solo shot to center field to put a lid on the scoring for the day.

The Saints return to action on Tuesday afternoon, traveling to Armstrong Atlantic for another Peach Belt Conference doubleheader. First pitch against the Pirates is set for 2:00 p.m.