DAHLONEGA — Laken Chambers tossed over six innings in relief as the No. 2 University of North Georgia softball team staved off elimination with a 5-3 win over No. 8 Young Harris Friday evening in the 2021 NCAA Division II Softball Southeast Regional.
North Georgia struck first in the top half of the first when Madison Simmons knocked a triple into right center to give UNG an early 1-0 lead, but the Mountain Lions answered in the bottom half of the inning on a Jill Torres two-run homer that gave YHC the lead.
No one scored again until the fourth when UNG used RBI singles from Madi Perry, Gracie Mixson and Shelby Hammontree to push four runs across and retake the lead at 5-2. Torres hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, but Chambers shut the door to push the Nighthawks to the final day of the regional.
NOTES
- Chambers improved to 12-0, tossing 6.1 innings and allowing just a run off four hits. She struck out a pair as well.
- North Georgia advances to the regional final for the seventh straight year. UNG has advanced out of the regional in all but one of those seasons.
- Hammontree, Simmons and Mixson all had two hits.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will battle No. 5 Lincoln Memorial at 12 noon tomorrow. To advance on to the NCAA Division II Softball Championships, UNG must beat LMU twice Saturday.
UNG DROPS OPENING GAME
The second-ranked University of North Georgia softball team fell Friday afternoon to No. 5 Lincoln Memorial, 5-3, behind two Railsplitter runs in the seventh inning.
LMU put the first runs on the board in the second inning on a two-run blast to center and pushed a third run across in the third on a ground rule double before North Georgia answered. The Nighthawks used a two-run homer from Madison Simmons in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2.
UNG continued gaining momentum in the fifth by pushing across a run on an Olivia Sinquefield RBI single to tie the game, but LMU had the last laugh, scoring two in the seventh on a pair of doubles.
NOTES
- Sinquefield and Cheyanne Mosteller went 2-for-3 at the plate.
- Kylee Smith (17-4) took the loss, striking out 10 along the way.
- LMU advances on to championship Saturday with the win and will next play Saturday at 12 PM.
