UNA REMAINS SECOND IN EAST DIVISION
FLORENCE
– The North Alabama and West Georgia
softball teams combined for 43 hits and 35
runs during a double-head split Saturday
afternoon at Cox Creek Park. The Lions took
the first game 10-8 before falling 11-6 in
the second game to give them a 3-1 series
win for the season.
With the split,
UNA holds on to second place in the Gulf
South Conference East Division with a 27-12
overall record and 8-3 mark in conference
play. West Georgia is in third place at
25-25, 7-7.
In the first
game, the Lions rallied from a 5-1 deficit,
took a 10-5 lead then held off a late West
Georgia surge to claim the 10-8 win.
Jessica Liddy
went 3-for-3 with a trio of RBI to lead
UNA’s batting attack. Kim Lee and Amy Goebel
also had two hits each in the game.
After both
teams scored a run in the first inning, UWG
pushed four runs across the plate in the top
of the third to take a 5-1 lead. Kim Weaver
highlighted the inning for the Wolves with a
three-run home run to right field.
The Lions
responded in the bottom of the inning with
five runs of their own to take a 6-5 lead.
UNA extended its lead to 10-5 with four more
runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Lions
sent eight batters to the plate in the
inning that was highlighted by Goebel’s
three-run double down the left field line.
West Georgia
made the game interesting in the top of the
fifth with another three-run home run. This
time it was Paige Hanson that did the damage
with two outs.
UNA pitcher
Megan Niesel was able to recover and get the
pitching decision to improve to 7-3 on the
year. The sophomore from Fort Lauderdale,
Fla., entered the game in the third inning
with the Lions trailing 5-1. She pitched
five innings in relief of starter Stephanie
Glinke, allowing six hits with five
strikeouts.
In the second
game, the Lions were never able to fully
recover from an early 8-0 deficit. Facing
its first mercy-rule defeat in more than two
years, UNA was able to extend the game in
the bottom of the fourth inning. Trailing
8-0, the Lions scored three runs to cut the
UWG lead to five.
After the
Wolves scored again in the top of the sixth,
UNA pushed two more runs across the plate in
the bottom of the inning to make the score
9-5. The deficit, however, would get no
smaller as UWG scored twice in the top of
the seventh and the Lions were only able to
add one more run to make the final score
11-6.
Lindsey Greene
went 3-for-4 in the second game while Sarah
Whitlow was a perfect 2-for-2 with a pair of
RBI. Lee also added two more hits to finish
the day 4-for-6 at the plate.
Sabrina Roberts
(10-6) took the loss on the mound for UNA.
She tossed the game’s first five innings,
allowing eight runs off nine hits.
The Lions will
be back in action on Thursday at the annual
GSC Crossover. UNA will open play at 6 p.m.
against Delta State at Wilson Morgan Park in
Decatur.
Printable Game
Statistics - West Georgia - Game 39
Printable Game
Statistics - West Georgia - Game 40
