Box Score

Macon, GA -- The Piedmont College softball team roared to their second straight Great South Athletic Conference championship tournament title earlier today with a second win over the Lady Hawks of Huntingdon College.  The Lady Lions rode a pair of two-run home runs from catcher Emily Cheek and a lights-out pitching performance from senior #B.J. Cofer and freshman Brittney Head# to yet another tournament crown giving Piedmont the league's automatic berth into the NCAA National Tournament.

In the first inning of this afternoon's second contest against the Lady Hawks, Piedmont slugger Emily Cheek wasted little time putting her Lady Lions out in front as she blasted a two-run home run to give her teammate on the mound a little bit of breathing room. 

With the top-seeded Lady Lions now in front, senior pitcher #B.J. Cofer# would turn in one of her finest performances of the season holding the Lady Hawks to just a single score in her six plus innings of work.  A pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the third from Cofer and third baseman Jamie Dennis added more insurance for the Lady Lion lead now at 4-0 through three.

Huntingdon tacked on a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth to try to stay within striking distance of the tournament's top seed.  However, another shot out of the park from Cheek in the Piedmont fifth added another two runs to the PC lead standing at 6-1 through five innings. 

The lone spot of trouble for the Piedmont pitching staff came in the bottom of the sixth when Huntingdon loaded the bases as Head was called in to finish the championship game off for Head Coach Terry Martin.  The youngster saw three runs cross as HC cut the lead down to just a pair of scores but managed to get out of the worrysome sixth with the lead still intact.

With the game now hanging in the balance at 6-4 PC in the bottom of the seventh, Huntingdon looked to jump on the freshman pitcher for Piedmont trailing by just two scores.  However, the youngster Head responded well getting a strikeout and a groundout before turning to see shortstop teammate Megan McClain making a diving grab to record the game's final out and hand the Lady Lions their second striaght GSAC championship. 

The win moves the team to 27-13 overall as they won five straight games to get the title and also earns the successful softball program a second straight trip the NCAA National Tournament.  The NCAA appearance is the third overall for the Lady Lions as they also made trips to Salem in 2006 and Newport News in 2010.  PC will learn of its NCAA desitination during the championship selection show to be held on May 9 at noon on www.ncaa.com.