The Division 2 National Championship matchup is set.
3rd-seeded North Georgia will take on #5-seed Grand Valley State in a best-of-three championship series with a World Series title on the line.
Grand Valley State is undefeated at the national tournament in Chattanooga, currently sitting at 3-0 following Sunday’s semifinal win over Central Oklahoma. After dropping a pair of games in the GLIAC tournament, the Lakers are an undefeated 8-0 in the NCAA tournament, blazing through their home regional, a Super Regional against UIndy, and a World Series field that included a victory over top-ranked UT Tyler on Friday.
Pitcher Hannah Beatus has been a rock in the circle for the Lakers this season. To date, she owns a career-low 0.83 ERA on the year and has allowed just 23 earned runs in nearly 200 innings of work. Beatus is 30-1 on the season and has put together a strikeout/walk ratio of nearly 7/1.
Offensively, Lydia Goble leads the Lakers. Her .465 batting average on the year is more than 80 points higher than her next-closest teammate, while she also leads the team in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, and stolen bases. It was Goble who was responsible for the walk-off hit against UT Tyler, and it was Goble who has hit safely in five straight NCAA tournament games.
In the other dugout beginning on Tuesday will be North Georgia, the winners of 62 games this season.
A 38-game winning streak during the season made headlines, as did a 24-3 conference showing. The Nighthawks lost the opening game of the Peach Belt conference tournament, then proceeded to reel off 13 straight wins. On Sunday, the Nighthawks were in the driver’s seat, needing just one win over UT Tyler to make it to the national championship series. After dropping a 3-1 decision, UNG roared back with a 2-0 shutout victory to clinch their spot in the championship.
Sophie Mooney, a two-way player, leads the Nighthawk offense. She owns a .447 batting average, a 1.190 OPS, and 97 base hits. She’s scored 59 runs, 15 doubles, 11 home runs, 70 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases. The biggest kicker in that latter set of numbers? She is second in every one of those categories on UNG’s roster.
The pitching circle, another strength for the Nighthawks, includes four pitchers that have thrown more than 75 innings this season. Tybee Denton (141 innings) and Kristen Davis (125 innings) lead that group. As a unit, the staff owns a 2.50 ERA, a .172 opponent’s batting average, and 413 strikeouts.
Game 1 of the championship series will take place on Tuesday at 12 pm Eastern. Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) will both be played on Wednesday, beginning at 12 pm Eastern.
