Dahlonega, Ga. - Top-ranked North Georgia (49-0) opened the 2010 NCAA Division II Softball Southeast Super Regional Tournament with a 5-3 victory over No. 8?Lenoir-Rhyne (53-8) Friday evening at Haines and Carolyn Hill Stadium.? With the win, the Saints take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

The Saints jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning on Leslee Smith's (Lexington, Ga.) run-scoring single with two outs.? North Georgia plated another run on the same play when Lenoir-Rhyne misplayed the hit.

L-R got a run back in the top of the fourth inning when sophomore second baseman Carlee Carpenter (Newton, N.C.) connected on a one-out, solo home run to left field.? The round-tripper was Carpenter's 13th of the season.

North Georgia pushed the lead back to two at 3-1 in its half of the fourth with a towering solo home run by Katherine Martin (Atlanta, Ga.) to left centerfield.

The Saints pushed their advantage to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning on Courtney McGuire's (Atlanta, Ga.) two-run home run.

L-R junior shortstop Kat Rivers (Royston, Ga.), the 2010 Southeast Regional Player Of The Year, connected on her national-leading 23rd home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the top of the seventh but it wasn't enough.

North Georgia's Sarah Phillips (Powell, Ohio) improved to 42-0 with the victory while L-R freshman Alex Smith (Cocoa, Fla.) fell to 25-5 after suffering the loss.

The two teams will play Saturday at 2:30 p.m., with a possible third game of the series beginning at 5 p.m.