Thursday, April 13, 2006

LADY BRAVES DEFEAT SAINTS ON SENIOR DAY

Dahlonega, Ga. – The North Georgia College and State University softball was defeated by the University of West Georgia, 4-0 and  9-5, on Wednesday afternoon’s Senior Day at the NGCSU Softball Complex. Seniors Lara Seamon and Lynsey Thompson were honored, as well as junior Danielle Rainey who will be student teaching next spring.

In game one, West Georgia got out on top in the first inning when Jessie Wise singled up the middle to score Kim Weaver and give the Braves a 1-0 lead.  Both the Braves and Saints put zeros on the board until the sixth inning when left fielder Celia Petty came to the plate with two runners on, two outs, and doubled to left center to score Whitney Monk and Alana Bailey to push the lead out to 3-0.

The Saints threatened in the bottom of the fifth inning as Seamon singled down the left field line with one out, and Tootie Johnson followed with a single through the left side. Brooke Kesler flied out to the third and Rachel Norris popped out to end the rally and leave the Saints trailing 3-0 after 6 innings.

West Georgia tacked on another run in the seventh inning off a single by Jamie Van Haltern that scored Wise and gave the Braves the 4-0 win.

Saints’ starting pitcher Rachel Bridges was tagged with the loss as she allowed 11 hits and four runs in the complete game. Her record falls to 10-8 and her ERA is at 4.50 on the year. Kacie Crider picks up the win for West Georgia as she went the distance for the Braves and shut out North Georgia allowing only five hits.

In game two, the Braves struck again early as they put a two spot on the board in the top of the first with RBI singles from Weaver and Wise. North Georgia scored their first runs of the day in bottom half of the inning with a bases loaded walk to Seamon to score Brittany Cobb and cut the Braves’ lead in half. Kesler would knock a sacrifice fly to right field to score Candace Shubert and tie the game 2-2. The inning was capped by an RBI single by Page Raynor that rolled through the left side of the infield. The Saints pushed five runs across and led 5-2 after the first inning.

Pitching dominated the next six innings as North Georgia could only put together 2 hits for the remainder of the game. West Georgia pitcher Kate Thompson pitcher came in on relief and pitched 6.1 innings and only allowed four hits and one earned run. North Georgia starter Dana Lowery was solid until the seventh inning when she allowed seven runs on eight hits. The inning was started by an RBI triple from Weaver to score Mary Carlisle from first. The Braves would add six more runs in the inning and prevail 9-5 over the Saints.

Lowery was the losing pitcher for the Saints as she allowed 14 hits and 9 runs in seven innings. The loss drops her record to 9-5 on the season with an ERA of 5.12. Thompson picks up the win in relief for West Georgia as she improves her record to 9-5 on the year.

North Georgia remains at home to play Northern Kentucky in the Fire Mountain Classic on Friday, April 14, at 3pm and Valdosta State at 7pm.

Box Score, Game 1

Box Score, Game 2

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