DAHLONEGA, GA – Lincoln Memorial softball defeats the (1) #3 North Georgia Nighthawks Friday afternoon to advance to the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament 7-8.
North Georgia drove one run in the first and kept that 1-0 lead through the second. The Railsplitters picked up the momentum in the third as Kristin Grifffin drove in
Reese Vivrette with a double to equalize the game at 1-1. The Nighthawks regained the lead in the same inning with a two-run home run to make the score 3-1. The score remained the same through the top the fifth, until Griffin brought the score within one with a solo home run. The top of the seventh
Hanna Bogoski singled down right field to bring in
Hannah McMeen and Griffin to give Lincoln Memorial the lead 3-4. With North Georgia scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, the game is brought to extra innings.
Jordan Reagan pulled through with a three-run home run in the eighth, bringing in
Gracie Palmer and Vivrette to give the Railsplitters the 4-7 lead going into the bottom of the eighth. The scoring runs continued in the bottom half, as the Nighthawks drove in three more runs to tie up the game to bring to a ninth inning. The ninth and tenth innings were scoreless, and
Hanna Bogoski secured the 7-8 win for LMU when she hit a RBI single in the top of the 12
th to score Griffin.
Griffin led the team in runs with three, McMeen and Hack each recorded a team-high three hits, and Bogoski and Reagan led in RBI with three each.
Katie Fultz and
Brooke Strickland each pitched 6.0 innings in the circle, with Fultz earning the win.
Lincoln Memorial advances to the next round of the NCAA Southeast Regional and will play the winner of (4) Columbus State / (5) Lander on Friday, May 15
th at noon.
