Blazers' Big Inning Too Much for Saints at CWS
ST. JOSEPH, MO
– In a battle of the top two teams in the country, 2nd-ranked
Valdosta State exploded early and held on for a 6-1 victory over
top-ranked North Georgia, ending the Saints’ bid for a
perfect season in the second round of the NCAA Division II World
Series Friday afternoon at Heritage Park.
The Saints fall for the first time this season, dropping to 51-1 on
the year, and moving to 3-3 all-time in the Division II College
World Series. North Georgia can now hope to continue the
history of recent years as the National Champion 24 of the last 28
years has had a loss in the World Series before capturing the
title.
With the loss, North Georgia flips to the bottom of the bracket to
game No. 10 of the Championship Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m., and
will face the winner of Wayne State and Metro State, a game that
takes place Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Valdosta State has now captured 17 of their last 19 games and
improve to 50-8 on the year as they advance in the winner’s
bracket and will have Saturday off before returning to action on
Sunday at 12-noon for the right to play in the National
Championship game.
North Georgia continued to do what they had all year long in the
opening inning as the Saints used speed to jump out on top in the
first inning. Voyles opened the game and worked the count full
before coaxing a walk, and All-American Lauren Dykes punched a bunt
back to the pitcher and beat the throw at first as Voyles raced
around to third.
North Georgia stayed aggressive as Courtney McGuire stepped to the
plate and Dykes swiped second on the first pitch, while Voyles
raced home on the throw to give the Saints an early 1-0 lead.
Valdosta State wasted little time knotting the score in the second
inning as Sarah Vaughn singled up the middle with two outs, sending
Ariel Shaw home from second just under the tag of catcher Natasha
Willemse.
The Blazers stayed red hot in the third inning with four more runs
to jump out to a 5-1 advantage. VSU used four hits to take the lead
and took advantage of a North Georgia throwing error in the
process.
Valdosta State continued to capitalize on mistakes by the
Saints’ defense in the sixth inning as a pair of miscues led
to another run and a 6-1 lead by the Blazers.
Sarah Phillips falls to 44-1 on the year, her first loss since the
semi-finals of the 2009 World Series against Lock Haven, the
eventual National Champions. The junior allowed six runs on eight
hits, while walking three and striking out four.
Holly Satterfield was the winner, improving to 27-3 on the year as
she allowed just two hits and one unearned run, while walking a
pair and striking out eight North Georgia batters.
