Tuesday, March 13, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Travis Jarome, Sports Information Director

NORTH GEORGIA SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER WITH SHARKS
Saints, in midst of 22-game road trip faces Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - North Georgia College & State University and Nova Southeastern University split their first-ever meetings at AD Griffin Softball Complex in non-conference softball action here Tuesday night.

Game One
North Georgia 10, Nova Southeastern 8

North Georgia (17-7) struck first in the top half of the first inning via a strikeout and passed ball. After Whitney Propes struck out, the ball got past Nova Southeastern catcher Leslie Buchmann and allowed Propes to get to first base. With one out, she stole second when Jessica Skeels struck out and scored on a Brittany Cobb triple to the left centerfield gap. Cobb, the reigning PBC Player of the Week, scored on a Candace Shubert single to rightfield. The next batter, Page Raynor, hit a single to center and was caught in a rundown - unfortunately Shubert was also caught in a rundown and tagged out at the plate, ending the top half of the inning with North Georgia leading 2-0.

Nova Southeastern (16-17) answered the runs by the Saints in the bottom of the first when they plated Noemi Luciani led off the inning by reaching first on a fielding error by shorstop Leslee Smith, and she was sacrificed over by Valen Eberhard with one out. The next batter, Ashley Baker, came with inches of tying the game as she doubled off the centerfield wall to plate Luciani, cutting the deficit to 2-1 after the first inning of play.

Propes struck again for the Saints in the top of the third inning, when the slap-hitter had the infield, and outfield, drawn in. She lined the ball up the middle, all the way to the wall, and recorded the first inside-the-park homerun of the season for North Georgia - giving the Saints a 3-1 lead.

The Sharks struck again in the bottom half of the third inning with the same combination of players as in the first. Luciani reached first on an infield single to lead-off the inning, and was sacrificed over to second by Eberhard. She later scored on a double by Baker, this time off the leftfield wall to cut the lead to 3-2. Baker would score on a single by Katie Valtri, her 42nd RBI on the year for Nova Southeastern, to tie the score at 3-3. The Sharks would take the lead after a throwing error by the Saints put runners at first and third, and allowed Dani Caron to hit a sacrifice fly to leftfield that put Nova Southeastern ahead 4-3.

Freshman Jessica Skeels gave the Saints the lead back in the top of the fifth inning, when she belted a 1-1 pitch over the left centerfield wall for a 5-4 lead. She was able to do so when Propes used her speed to force a bad defensive play by the Sharks, when she bunted the ball back to the pitcher.

Unfortunately for North Georgia, the Sharks once again answered in the bottom half of the inning when Caron laid down a bunt on a squeeze, her second RBI, to tie the game at 5-5. Nova Southeastern loaded the bases with just one out in the same inning when freshman infielder Dana Bergner hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Adrian Tuttle to give the Sharks a 6-5 lead in the fifth.

North Georgia threatened again in the top of the sixth inning following back-to-back singles from Smith and freshman infielder Krista Goodlet with one out. The two coaches swapped players following the singles, with North Georgia head coach Mike Davenport going to Meigan Grimm to pinch-hit for catcher Brooke Kesler and Nova Southeastern head coach Lesa Bonee turning to Tuttle on the mound. Grimm promptly drew a walk from Tuttle to load the bases for the Saints with the top of the order due at the plate. Freshman third baseman Laura Voyles, next at the plate, grounded into a fielder's choice to Tuttle who threw home to get Smith at the plate for the second out. With two outs, Davenport turned to senior Krista Bess as a pinch-hitter for Propes to face Tuttle. The junior cleared the bases on a two-strike double off the rightfield wall for an 8-6 Saints lead.

Just like in previous innings by both teams, the Sharks were able to answer the three runs put up by the Saints in the top of the sixth. Luciani once again led off the inning with a hit, and was bunted over by Eberhard. Baker, who doubled twice previously, laid down the bunt down the first base line to advance Luciani to third. Baker then stole second to put runners at second and third with just one out. Katie Veltri brought the Sharks within one, at 8-7, when she hit the ball to the left side of the infield. Smith dove and was able to glove the ball to keep Baker at second with one out. With runners at first and second with one out, Kesler made a big defensive play for the Saints as she dove for a foul pop-up and was able to glove it for the second out. Caron hit the ball up the middle, and narrowly beat out a throw to first base to score Baker and tie the game at 8-8 with two outs in the sixth. Reliever Nicole Adkison was able to get a groundout to third to end the threat and the inning, and to take a tie game into the seventh inning.

Once again, North Georgia answered the call this time in the top of the seventh inning. Shubert blooped a one-out single over a drawn-in infield and advanced to third on a single by Page Raynor and a throwing error by Nova Southeastern. She advanced home on a single by Smith for a 9-8 lead, and Raynor advanced to third on the play. Krista Goodlet, earning the start at second base, dropped down a perfect bunt on a squeeze play to score Raynor from third for a 10-8 lead for the Saints.

Nicole Adkison (4-1) was able to nail the win for the Saints in relief of starter Andrea Moss.

Game Two
Nova Southeastern 8, North Georgia 4

Nova Southeastern used a four-run second inning to pull away from North Georgia to earn the split in the nightcap.

Nova Southeastern added four more runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a commanding 7-2 lead with five innings remaining in the contest. North Georgia chipped away at the lead in the top of the fourth inning when they plated one run on a throwing error by Nova Southeastern to trim the lead to 7-3. Each team added a pair of runs late for the final score.

North Georgia struck first again in the top of the first inning, scoring two runs in the first stanza for the second consecutive game. Shubert's infield single, off the glove of the third baseman, drove home Propes and the subsequent error by the Sharks allowed Skeels to score from first for a 2-0 Saints lead. The news was not all good for the Saints, however, as lead-off hitter and third baseman Laura Voyles had to leave the game due to injury in the same inning.

The Sharks answered the Saints in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs of their own on a base hit and a double steal - knotting the game through one inning, before a throwing error by the Saints gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead after the first inning.

Propes (3-3) suffered the loss in the nightcap.

North Georgia (17-8, 4-0 PBC) returns to action Wednesday night against 21st-ranked Florida Gulf Coast at 5 p.m. in Fort Myers. The doubleheader will be the last games of the 11-game road trip for the Saints, who will return home Thursday before hitting the road to face West Georgia on March 20. North Georgia will conclude their 22-game road trip on March 25 at USC Aiken.

-NGCSU-

Related Item: Box Score (Game One)
Related Item: Box Score (Game Two)

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