No. 12 Lady Nighthawks collect pair of non-conference wins

DAHLONEGA -- The No. 12 North Georgia softball team collected a pair of non-conference wins on Saturday afternoon at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium, downing Brevard (5-1) and Pfeiffer (4-1). The wins are the sixth straight for the Nighthawks as they improve to 13-3 overall.

The Nighthawks will next kick off Peach Belt Conference play traveling the short trip across Blood Mountain to Young Harris on Wednesday (Mar. 4) for a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader.

Game One - North Georgia 5, Brevard 1

After both teams plated a single run in the first inning, North Georgia broke the game open in the fifth with three runs on a trio of RBI singles by Taylor Merritt, Jessica Finch and Hannah Hardin.

Kim McMillan belted her team-leading fifth homerun in seventh to cap the scoring.

Meagan Stover earned her fourth win of the season in the circle after throwing three innings of relief work, allowing just two hits while striking out four. Courtney Poole registered her first save of the season, striking out three of her nine outs.

Merritt and Finch led the way at the plate with a pair of hits apiece.

Brevard's Hanna Huckabee's double highlighted the Tornado's offense as four different players registered a hit on the day.

Game Two - North Georgia 4, Pfeiffer 1

North Georgia did all of its offensive damage in the first two innings, scoring three in the first and one in the second and it would be all the offense Poole would need to record her eighth pitching decision of the year.

The solo run in the second frame came courtesy of Victoria Price's first homerun of the year, a shot over the left center wall.

The Falcons (7-7) were able to scratch a run across in the fourth to negate Poole's shutout.

Offensively, Merritt and McMillan recorded two hits each while Tiffanie Burns smacked her third triple of the season with a first inning run scoring drive to right field.

Poole's collected the victory in the circle upping her record to 7-1 while fanning 12 Falcons.

Pfieffer's Lindsay Russell was 2-for-4 from the plate to lead the Falcons while teammate Sydney Poole was saddled with the loss dropping her to 2-3 on the year.