Patriots' season ends in NCAA subregional championship game

DAHLONEGA, GA – Francis Marion University kept top-ranked and top-seeded North Georgia College & State University off the scoreboard for three innings, but the Patriots were not able to cross home plate themselves and ended up falling to the Saints 5-0 in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Dahlonega Southeast Regional Softball Tournament on Sunday night (May 16).

The Saints (48-0) advance to play Lenoir-Rhyne University in Southeast Super Regional beginning Friday at site to be announced Monday morning.  Francis Marion ends its season 36-16, with six of the losses coming at the hands of North Georgia. 

North Georgia right-hander Sarah Phillips (41-0) allowed four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.  Junior right-hander Cea Knox (14-6) took the loss as she surrendered the five runs on eight hits.

Lauren Dykes had two hits and two RBIs for the Saints, while Courtney McGuire and Hilary Cox each finishing with two hits.

Ashley Jaramillo, Knox, Michaela Wolf, and Destinea Schneider had the four hits for the Patriots.

FMU head coach Stacey Vallee went with Knox on the mound after she pitched five innings of relief in the teams’ game on Saturday, limiting the Saints to one hit.

North Georgia put a pair of runners on base to start the game, but Knox got out of the jam thanks to a pair ground balls and a strikeout.

Knox didn’t give up a hit until the third when Dykes reached on a one-out single.  McGuire followed with a line drive single to right, with Dykes taking third on the play. McGuire broke for second when then ball was thrown to third and was safe, but McGuire tried to score on the throw to second and was gunned down by Jaramillo at the plate.

In the top of the fourth, the Saints took a 3-0 lead.  Pilar Harden broke up the scoreless game with an RBI fielder’s choice, and one out later, Dykes laced a liner up the middle to score a pair of runs.

A pair of triples in the sixth, the second one by McGuire, accounted for the Saints’ fourth run.  Cox delivered an insurance run in the top of the seventh when she ripped a fastball deep into the trees behind the left field fence.

FMU opened the seventh inning with a pair of hits but Phillips worked out of trouble to protect the shutout. Phillips got Jessica Birchmeier on a soft liner and then handcuffed Knox with a pitch that resulted in a ground ball out. With runners at second and third, Jessica Hogan hit a line drive up the middle but Harden made a sliding catch to end the game.

This was Francis Marion’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in the past three seasons.