DAHLONEGA, Ga. --- On the road against the second ranked team in the nation, the Bellarmine University softball team gave the North Georgia Saints all they could handle, but could not pull the upset, falling 4-3 in both games of a double header.

Bellarmine (12-10, 3-1 GLVC) tested the Saints (21-3, 0-0 PBC) as well as any team this year. North Georgia has only given up more than two runs three times prior to today with two of the games coming against then No. 4 West Texas A&M.

Game 1: No. 2 North Georgia 4, Bellarmine 3

Bellarmine looked to spring the upset from the start getting runners on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the first. Senior Lauren Summe then laid down a successful squeeze bunt to bring Erin Sireno home for the 1-0 lead.

Later in the inning the Knights went ahead 2-0 on a bases loaded walk drawn by designated hitter Abby Lenhart.

North Georgia would show that they are worthy of the lofty ranking in the bottom half of the inning with a two out rally that brought three Saints across the plate to jump ahead 3-2.

In the second, Bellarmine fired right back with a RBI single by Summe to bring Kelsey Hicks home from third base to tie the game at 3-3.

Sensing that his team may be in trouble, North Georgia coach Mike Davenport made a pitching change, electing to go with 2011 Ron Lentz National Pitcher of the Year Jessica Coan the rest of the way. The move paid off as Coan was perfect in the final 5.1 inning, giving up zero hits, zero walks, and striking out 13 batters to pick up the win.

Kara Gilliam provided the game winner for North Georgia, a solo homer to left center to lead off the fourth inning.

Box Score

Game 2: No. 2 North Georgia 4, Bellarmine 3 (8 innings)

In the finale, Bellarmine proved they could hang with the national powers, pushing the Saints into extra innings on their home field. The Saints threw the first punch, plating two runs in the first on a home run by Hilary Cox.

Bellarmine answered back in the fourth as Hannah Daunhauer was able to make it home on an error by North Georgia. Megan Murdoch singled through the left side to bring home Sireno to knot the game up at 2-2.

The Knights would take the lead in the top of the sixth in familiar fashion, a Madi Ratliff home run. The third basemen hit her eighth home run of the season off Coan to put Bellarmine ahead 3-2.

North Georgia would prevail in game two as well, scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth and then getting a walk-off double in the seventh to take the game and the series.

Box Score

Bellarmine will return home this weekend for a pair of double headers at Knights field, hosting GLVC foes Illinois-Springfield on Saturday and Quincy on Sunday.