GREENWOOD – The North Georgia College & State University softball team swept Lander, 3-2 and 11-0, Wednesday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at Legion Field. The Saints won the first game, 3-2, in nine innings, then defeated the Bearcats, 11-0, in five innings in the nightcap. (Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box)
North Georgia improves to 28-6 overall and 9-3 in the PBC, while Lander falls to 10-31, 1-13.
In the first game, Kim Stercay won the game with a solo home run in the ninth inning.
NGCSU's Sarah Phillips (13-3) earned the victory on the mound as she struck out 13, walked one and allowed two earned runs on four hits in the complete nine innings.
Lander's Austin Murray (3-14) suffered the loss as she struck out five, walked two and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in 8.1 innings pitched.
The Saints posted a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Stephanie Farmakis scored on Tiffany Blackburn's RBI double and Blackburn crossed the plate on a Murray throwing error.
Lander tied the game at 2-2 in the second inning on a solo home run by Lindsey Whitfield and an RBI single by Murray which plated Daisy Stewart.
For Lander, Whitfield went 1-for-4 with one home run.
For NGCSU, Stercay went 1-for-3 with one homer and one RBI, while Laura Voyles (2-for-5) and Blackburn (1-for-2, one run, one RBI) both doubled.
In the second game, the Saints scored one run in the first, three in the second, one in the third then exploded for six in the fifth inning and the game was called due to the eight-run rule.
Nicole Adkison (7-1) was awarded the win after striking out one and allowing just two hits in the complete five innings.
Lander's Jenna Kellett (3-12) took the loss as she struck out two, walked one and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits in two innings pitched.
In the first inning., Voyles scored on Courtney McGuire's double to left field. The Saints stretched the lead to 4-0 in the second when Stercay scored on a wild pitch, and Voyles and Farmakis added RBI singles.
After Leslee Smith added a solo homer in the third to make it 5-0, then McGuire and Smith hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth to go up 7-0. Krista Bess added an RBI single and Kaelin Farrington lined a two-RBI double to complete the scoring.
For NGCSU, McGuire went 2-for-3 with one home run, one double, and two RBI; Smith went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs scored and two RBI; and Voyles went 3-for-4 with one double, two runs scored and three RBI.
