DAHLONEGA, Ga. -- Reigning National Player of the Year Courtney Poole tossed a couple of gems to help the 13th-ranked North Georgia Nighthawks (17-4) sweep an NCAA Division II softball doubleheader from the Lady Railsplitters (4-15) on Wednesday afternoon in Dahlonega, Ga. The defending National Champion Nighthawks blanked Lincoln Memorial in both ends of the doubleheader, winning game one 6-0 before completing the sweep with a 4-0 win in game two.
 
The two losses extend the Lady Railsplitters' losing streak to five games, while the Nighthawks pushed their winning streak to 17 games with the two wins.
 
Lincoln Memorial returns to action on Sunday, March 6 with a trip to Louisville, Ky. to face the Bellarmine Knights in a doubleheader beginning at noon.
 
Game One: North Georgia 6, Lincoln Memorial 0
 
The Nighthawks scored in each of the first four innings, while Poole limited Lincoln Memorial to only two hits with 10 strikeouts over five innings of work before giving way to Brianna Michaud for the last two frames. Michaud surrendered one hit with three walks to complete the victory.
 
BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) went 1-for-3 with a double, while Savannah Couch (Colonial Heights, Va.) and Kelsie Hocutt (Wendell, N.C.) accounted for a single apice for the Lady Railsplitters.
 
Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) made the start for Lincoln Memorial and took the loss after giving up six hits and five earned runs over six innings of work. Taylor struggled with her command throughout the game, walking seven and hitting three other batters, but posted four strikeouts.
 
North Georgia put two runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as Meagan May led off with a triple and scored on a Stephanie Hartness single and Ansley Phillips drew a bases-loaded walk.
 
A sacrifice fly out from Meredith Heyer and another bases-loaded free pass increased the Nighthawks' lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the second inning. An RBI ground by Jessica Finch, set up by an infield error, pushed another run across for North Georgia in the third frame.
 
The Nighthawks tallied their final run of the game in the fourth stanza, when Brittani Crawford led off with a triple and scored on a groundout by Alexis Collis.
 
The Lady Railsplitters put two runners on base in the second, sixth and seventh innings, but were unable to push a run across.
 
Hartness led the North Georgia attack by going 3-for-3 with an RBI, two runs scored, an RBI and a walk. The Nighthawks finished with just six hits in the game.
 
Game Two: North Georgia 4, Lincoln Memorial 0
 
Poole went the distance in game two, striking out eight and relinquishing only three hits to improve to 16-0 on the season.
 
Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.), Lindsay Cecil (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) each posted a hit for the Lady Railsplitters, with Hunter hitting a double.
 
Taylor threw all six innings in game two as well, falling to 1-6 on the season after giving up four hits and four earned runs with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
 
The Nighthawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Heyer connected on a two-out, two-run home run to straightaway center field.
 
Taylor kept North Georgia in check for the next three innings, but a two-run double by Hartness increased the North Georgia cushion to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
 
The Lady Railsplitters didn't get their first base runner until Cecil led off the top of the third with a single. But Lincoln Memorial was unable to put a runner on second base until Hunter's two-out double in the sixth.
 
Moose recorded the final hit of the game for the visiting team with a two-out single in the seventh.
 
The two losses drop Lincoln Memorial to 2-7 all-time against North Georgia.