DAHLONEGA -- Top-seeded and host North Georgia advanced to Sunday's NCAA II Southeast Regional Softball Tournament championship game with a 6-1 win over fourth-seeded Catawba on Saturday afternoon at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium. The sixth-ranked Nighthawks improve to 46-7 on the year.
Catawba (30-16) took the early lead when Natalie Naturile connected on a two-out solo home run to left in the bottom of the first.
North Georgia was able to tie the game in the third after loading the bases with no outs.
The Nighthawks got the inning started with a leadoff single from Taylor Anne Merritt and a second runner reached on an error. Kim McMillan would walk to load the bases. Catawba was able to turn a double play which got the tying run in before a pop up ended the frame with the teams tied at 1-1.
North Georgia took the lead for good in the fifth when Jessica Finch doubled and went to third on a single by Alexis Collis. The go-ahead run scored on a dribbler in front of the plate off the bat of McMillan that allowed pinch runner Hannah McSwain to score. UNG added a second run on a sacrifice fly by Tiffanie Burns.
North Georgia padded its lead on a sacrifice fly from Finch in the sixth and scored twice in the seventh when Meagan May tripled and came in after a walk to McMillan on a double steal. Anskey Phillips plated the final run on a ground out.
Catawba did not get a hit after the first inning until a single with one out in the seventh. The other two hits came after Naturile's home run in the first.
Courtney Poole (39-3) picked up the win in the circle for the Nighthawks. She surrendered the one run on three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
Offensively, UNG's five hits came off the bats of five different players.
Catawba's Carley Tysinger fell to 26-10 with the loss. Only four of the runs she allowed were earned which came off five hits. The junior walked three, hit three and fanned five.
