Courtesy of Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The No. 19-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University softball squad used a big sixth inning to defeat No. 2-ranked North Georgia, 12-10, winning the 2014 NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional on Saturday afternoon and advancing to the DII Softball National Championships.
The best-of-three Super Regional saw North Georgia take Saturday’s first contest, 7-5, with three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Armstrong had won the first game of the Super Regional, 3-2, on Friday. The Pirates (35-13) make their second straight trip to the NCAA Division II Softball National Championships in Salem, Va., on May 22-26. North Georgia sees its season come to a close with a 47-11 record.
The Pirates trailed, 5-4, in the bottom of the fifth inning of the deciding contest as North Georgia’s Victoria Prince delivered an RBI single to snap a 4-4 tie and give the Nighthawks the lead.
Armstrong then delivered a big eight-run sixth-inning, capitalizing on three North Georgia errors and getting a key two-run RBI double from Peyton Roth, an RBI single by Andrea Dalton and sacrifice flies from Hannah Reppert and Kacie Patterson in the frame to take a 12-5 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, North Georgia rallied with five runs – getting RBI singles from Courtney Poole and Meredith Heyer as well as taking advantage of an Armstrong error to close the score to 12-10 with the tying runs on first and third. Ollivia McLemore retired the final two batters on a pair of groundouts, however, to preserve the victory.
McLemore (24-6) hurled seven innings, giving up 14 hits and 10 runs – only three earned – while walking three to notch the win for the Pirates. Roth went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs to lead the Pirates at the plate, while Hannah Reppert had two hits and two RBIs and Andrea Dalton went 2-for-5 with three RBIs.
