PEMBROKE, NC — The top-ranked North Georgia softball team completed a perfect weekend with a doubleheader sweep over UNC Pembroke on Sunday afternoon, blanking the Braves 3-0 in Game 1 before a 9-3 victory in Game 2 kept the Saints unbeaten on the season and in the Peach Belt Conference.
The No. 1 Saints improved to 17-0 on the season, and open their first weekend of conference action with a 4-0 mark, sweeping doubleheaders from Francis Marion and UNC Pembroke on the road. The Braves fall to 13-9 overall and 4-6 in league action with the defeats.
In Game 1, North Georgia got all the offense it would need in the two innings, as Leslee Smith hit a sacrice fly to center field to bring Laura Voyles to the plate for the first run of the game.
In the second inning, it was Voyles’ turn to bring home a run, as the senior tripled to right field that scored Katherine Martin and made it 2-0 North Georgia. Lauren Dykes capped the scoring in the second inning with a single up the middle to plate Voyles from third and give the Saints a 3-0 lead, a margin that held true to the final out.
UNC Pembroke managed four hits in the opener and consistently put the ball in play with only three strikeouts, but Sarah Phillips kept the Braves at bay all day, moving her record to 12-0 with the complete-game shutout.
In Game 2, the Saints scored in bunches with six runs in the third and three more in the seventh to pick up the 9-3 victory. In the third frame, Courtney McGuire drove in the first run of the game with a bases loaded walk that scored Kasey Knight, and Leslee Smith followed with her third home run of the weekend, a grand slam to right center to cap a six-run inning for the Saints.
The Braves answered with their first runs of the day in the fourth inning, scoring three runs on a pair of home runs that chased Phillips from the circle. Holly Berry followed a Courtney Hill double with a homer to left field, and two batters later, Loren Bartz launched a solo shot to center to make it 6-3 North Georgia. After two more singles, Kristen Connelly came on to pitch and worked her way out of a bases loaded jam to preserve the Saints’ three-run lead.
In the seventh, Hilary Cox delivered a three-run double to left center to give North Georgia a 9-3 victory.
Connelly (3-0) picked up the win in relief, tossing 3 2/3 innings and allowing two hits and no runs while walking three and striking out two. Phillips’ line read 3 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs, while striking out one in the no decision.
North Georgia will now gear up for what should be its toughest week of the season, playing host to a pair of top-10 teams in back-to-back days. The Saints open the week with a doubleheader against No. 8 LeMoyne College at 4 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a doubleheader against No. 2 Alabama-Huntsville at 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon at Haines and Carolyn Hill Stadium.