DAHLONEGA — The eighth-ranked North Georgia softball team used some clutch two-out hitting to take a pair of games from No. 18 Young Harris, 3-1 and 4-2, Monday afternoon at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium. The Nighthawks improve to 37-6 on the season with a 15-1 mark in Peach Belt Conference play.
GAME ONE
Chandler Stooksbury got the Mountain Lions on the board first in the top of the second inning with an double down the left field line that drove in Sarah Magill from second putting YHC up, 1-0.
North Georgia scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning to tie the game and take the lead late. Meredith Heyer plated Stephanie Hartness from second with a RBI single to center to tie the game in the fourth, 1-1. Hartness drove in Alexis Collis with a double to left in the fifth and Jessica Finch provided some insurance with a solo blast to left to give the game its 3-1 score that proved final.
GAME TWO
Hartness made sure the Nighthawks were the first to score with her double to left that scored Hannah McSwain in the bottom of the third. Young Harris scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth on a UNG fielding error to tie the game up, 1-1.
Kate Block came through with a two-out single in the right center gap that scored Heyer and Morgan Helton to give North Georgia a 3-1 lead in the fifth. The Mountain Lions plated another unearned run in the top of the sixth before Brittani Crawford pushed across Meagan May with her two-out double to left center to give UNG the 4-2 advantage.
NOTES
- Courtney Poole (36-2) picked up both wins going all 14.0 innings allowing just eight hits while striking out 14. Poole only allowed one earned run on the day.
- Stephanie Hartness led the Nighthawks at the plate with a 3-for-6 effort that included one RBI in each game.
- North Georgia now owns a 9-1 all-time advantage over Young Harris.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will step out of conference play for their final non-conference games of the season, a doubleheader against Belmont Abbey on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Hill Stadium.
