Saturday, March 10, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Travis Jarome, Sports Information Director

NORTH GEORGIA EXPLODES IN THE FOURTH, PICKS UP WIN
Saints wear pink uniforms in honor of Cancer Awareness Day

BRADENTON, Fla. – North Georgia College and State University used a fourth-inning eruption to pull ahead and defeat 25th-ranked Carson-Newman 12-2 in their third game of the Fun In The Sun Tournament here Saturday afternoon. The game is the first of three on the day for the Saints.

The Saints erupted once again in the fourth inning of their first game of the day. Candace Shubert got the inning started the inning with a single to short and advanced to second on a throwing error by the shortstop. After two outs, Leslie Smith singled to left bring home Shubert and a 3-2 Saints lead. After walks to Brooke Kesler and Laura Voyles loaded the bases, sophomore outfielder Whitney Propes singled to center, driving in pinch runner Natasha Willemse for a 4-2 lead. On the very next pitch, freshman Jessica Skeels blasted a pitch over the centerfield wall for a grand slam and an 8-2 North Georgia lead.

And the day was complete when Brittany Cobb blasted a grand slam over the leftfield wall to end the game in the sixth inning via the 10-run rule. The two grand slams tied a Peach Belt Conference record for grand slams in a game.

The Saints struck first in the bottom of the first inning with one out. Sophomore outfielder Whitney Propes bunted the ball down the first base line, and beat the throw to the bag to give the Saints their first baserunner of the day. Junior outfielder Brittany Cobb then drew a two-out walk to set the table for junior outfielder Candace Shubert. The junior beat out an infield to second base, then moved up two runners on a throwing error which allowed Propes and Cobb to score for the 2-0 lead.

The lead did not last long, as Carson-Newman's Stephanie Templeton hit a solo homerun to left centerfield to cut into the deficit in the top of the second inning. The homerun was Templeton's fourth of the season. The Eagles tied the game in the top of the third inning with an RBI single by Whitney Hickam drove home Hillary Hammond to knot the score at 2-2.

Carson-Newman (21-3) had a chance to take the lead in the top of fourth, as they loaded the bases with one out. However, North Georgia's defense stood strong as they got a ground ball to shortstop Leslie Smith who fired home to catcher Brooke Kesler for the second out. Then, senior pitcher Andrea Moss got a fly ball to Cobb in centerfield for the final out of the inning.

Andrea Moss (10-1) picked up the victory in the first game.

North Georgia 13, Mars Hill 7

North Georgia pounded out 20 hits en route to the victory over Mars Hill College in their second game of the day Saturday night.

Following a one-out single by Propes in the top of the second inning, the Saints went to work on the bases. Skeels singled to short when Propes beat the ball to second and Skeels used her speed to beat the throw to first. Cobb, after homering in the last game, laid a bunt down in her first at-bat of this game to load the bases and Shubert once again followed with a slap double to center to score two runs.

Mars Hill (20-8) struck back in the top of the second inning, scoring four times in the inning off of starter Trish Snider and Propes. The visitors scored twice sans hit, using a bases-loaded walk and a hit batter to push runs across.

The Saints struck back in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with no outs. Propes delivered another bunt, this time working the ball between short and the pitching rubber. She beat the throw to first and Natasha Willemse scored to cut the deficit to 4-3. The next batter, Skeels, took her chances on the first pitch and lined a two-run double down the rightfield line to give the Saints a 5-4 lead, and put runners at second and third with no outs. Cobb was the next batter and she promptly drove in another run to give the Saints a 6-4 lead with just one out and a runner at third. Shubert punched the next ball to the pitcher, leaving no choice but to throw to first and drove in the fifth run of the inning, giving North Georgia a 7-4 lead through two innings.

North Georgia struck again in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore third baseman Meigan Grimm hit a solo homerun to left, a ball that was gone as soon as it hit the bat. The scored two more runs when Skeels collected another pair of RBI with a hard-hit single that scored Smith and Voyles for a 10-4 lead through three innings.

Cobb continued her hot-hitting as she hit another homerun, her third in two days to give the Saints an 11-7 lead, after Mars Hill scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Page Raynor answered Cobb's homerun with one of her own two batters later, hitting a two-run shot to center for a 13-7 lead after five innings.

Whitney Propes (3-2) picked up the win in relief of starter Trish Snider.

Barry 1, North Georgia 0

For the second time in less than seven hours, the Saints took on a team ranked in top 25 in Barry University, the 24th-ranked team in the country.

Barry jumped ahead of the Saints in the top of the first inning when Cristina DeTagle reached on a one-out bunt single to third. She moved to moved to second when Ashley Loose was hit with a pitch, and later scored on a one-out single to rightcenter by Amanda Geelz off a change-up to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead.

The Buccaneers threatened again in the second inning, loading the bases with two outs. However, Moss struck out the final batter of the inning to thwart any rally by Barry. In the third, Smith made the play of the day early as she snared a line drive off the bat of Holly Davis - robbing extra bases. After the line drive, Barry got runners on first and second before Moss played the bunt perfectly by throwing the runner out at first for the final out.

North Georgia had their chance in the third inning when they got a runner at third with one out. Smith singled to start the inning and was sacrificed over to second, and with one out stole third. After Voyles was hit by a pitch, Barry pitcher Amber Jack threw out Propes on a bunt attempt to end the inning.

The Buccaneers threatened again in the fourth inning, loading the bases again with two outs - via two throwing errors - but were able to get out of the inning again when Moss enduced a fly out to centerfield leaving the bases full (10 runners left on base through four innings for Barry).

Barry threatened again in the sixth inning when they got their first two batters on. They were sacrificed over to second and third with one out in the inning. Following a foul pop to Raynor, Moss was able to coax another foul pop - this one to Propes in left field - to end the inning.

North Georgia didn't give up in the last few innings, as pinch-hitter Grimm connected for a one-out double to left. However, a sure hit by Raynor was taken away by Davis for the second out.

Moss (10-2) was the hard-luck loser in the contest.

North Georgia (15-5) returns to action Sunday in the final day of the tournament. The Saints will play Ohio Valley and West Liberty beginning at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

-NGCSU-

Related Item: Box Score (vs. Carson-Newman)
Related Item: Box Score (vs. Mars Hill)
Related Item: Box Score (vs. Barry)

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