Danielle Rainey (Forground) and Lara Seamon (Background)

The Lady Eagles (4-2) fought their way through two different opponents Saturday morning to make their way to the championship game. After defeating fourth seed Georgia Southwestern State University 1-0 in their first elimination game, Faulkner had to battle from three runs down to get past second seed Lee University 5-3 in the finals of the elimination bracket.

After falling behind in their first two games, the Lady Eagles decided to jump out in front in the championship game. Faulkner loaded the bases with two outs and first baseman Rachael McClure singled in the first run of the game. A second single off the bat of designated hitter Ann Louise Jones scored a second run to give the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead.

Another single loaded the bases once again and Faulkner looked poised to break the game wide open, but Saints (4-0) sophomore starting pitcher Danielle Rainey set down the final out with a strikeout to end the rally.

In North Georgia's half of the first inning, the Saints responded off the bat of junior shortstop Lynsey Thompson, who blasted a homer to left center to cut the Lady Eagles lead to one. Sophomore designated hitter Bronwyn Miller tied the game in the second inning after hitting a moon shot off of the left field foul pole to make it a 2-2 ball game.

North Georgia's bats came alive in the third inning to the tune of four runs as the Saints took the lead for good. Freshman left fielder Krista Bess socked her first home run of the season over the center field wall to give North Georgia the lead for good. Senior second baseman Annie Ball singled in a run to make it a 4-2 ball game. Ball was sent home by junior first baseman Lara Seamon after she blasted a home run over the right field fence to give the Saints a four run lead.

Rainey stepped up and closed out the final four innings of the game to give North Georgia the tournament championship. She evened her overall record to 6-6 after scattering eight hits and striking out five. She allowed only two earned runs and lowered her ERA to 2.90 for the season.

Faulkner starting pitcher Kimberly Hodge took the loss after going 3 1/3 innings of work and allowing six earned runs off of seven hits while striking out two.

Both the Saints and the Lady Eagles turn their attention now to the NAIA Region XIII tournament that begin on May 9 in Orange Beach, Fla.