The University of Mount Olive dropped a heartbreaker to the No. 1 seed University of North Georgia 2-0 in the 2014 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional in Dahlonega, Ga. Saturday afternoon. Carly White pitched well for the Trojans but ended up on the losing end after a great performance in which she allowed just two runs.
Mount Olive (24-25) was able to get the first hit in the ball game after Ashleigh Mason singled off the starting pitcher Courtney Poole's glove and the ball rolled into center field. However the Trojans could not get Mason home with two away.
White started strong for the Trojans as she retired the first two Nighthawks on groundouts. An eight pitch battle resulted in Finch reaching on a throwing error by the second baseman to allow the first runner to reach for North Georgia (44-9). However White fought back and got the final out of the inning and the score remained deadlocked.
Tiffanie Burns got the first hit for UNG in the third with a shot just under the glove of White back up the middle. Kim McMillian with one away hit a ball into right field for a single, but a strong throw from Mason was in time to nail Burns trying to advance to third. A ground was the final out of the inning and the remained at zero.
A lead-off walk to Savannah Becker was the start of something brewing for the Trojans in the fourth. Kelsey Akers singled into center to put the first Mount Olive runner in scoring position. However, the Nighthawks retired the side.
McMillian hit a ball into no mans land behind the circle and just beat the throw at first. Finch drove a pitch into right center for a RBI-double as McMillian came around from first to score the first run of the game in the sixth. Garrett came in the game to pinch run for Finch and was advanced to third with a groundout. May came up a scored Garrett with a line shot down the left field line that snuck just inside of the third base bag and North Georgia took the lead 2-0.
Mount Olive looked to comeback in the top of the seventh. Jennifer Jones singled with one away to left center to give the Trojans a base runner. Megan Ready came in to pinch ran for Jones. However Mount Olive was unable to complete the comeback and fell to North Georgia 2-0.
White (10-6) picked up the loss for the Trojans throwing six innings allowing two runs off six hits and added two strikeouts.
Poole (21-8) got the win for North Georgia going seven innings of shutout ball allowing four hits and six strikeouts.
Mount Olive will face Lenoir-Rhyne in an elimination game at a scheduled time of 7:30 p.m.
Head Coach Jaime Kylis-Higginbotham spoke on the team's outlook going into game two. "We are going to keep pressing with our game plan. We are not broken so we are not going to change anything. I'm very happy with how we have been playing and we will keep cruising our course and I think we will be alright."