Game Preview: The No. 5 University of North Georgia softball team will host a NCAA Regional for the sixth straight year this weekend as UNG is the No. 1 team in the Southeast Region. UNG will take on Lees-McRae in the opener while hosting Coker and Young Harris as well.
Rankings: UNG is ranked No. 5 in the latest NFCA top 25 poll, announced last Wednesday. The only other team in the top 25 is No. 23 Georgia College. Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman are each receiving votes.
Nighthawks on the Web: Links can be found above or on the UNG Softball schedule page. Fans can also follow the action through Twitter by following the softball team (@UNGSoftball).
Last Week: The Nighthawks won their sixth straight PBC Tournament Championship last weekend, defeating UNC Pembroke, Flagler and Georgia Southwestern along the way. The win extends the league record of consecutive tournament championships as well.
Schedule: Play Thursday begins at 2 p.m. with No. 4 Coker battling No. 5 Young Harris. There are three games scheduled for Friday with the winner's bracket game starting at 12 noon and elimination games at 2:30 and 5 p.m. before Saturday's action starts at 12 noon with the if necessary game to start at 2:30 p.m.
National Stats: North Georgia has the third lowest ERA as a team in Division II at 1.33, just seven points higher than Rollins. The Nighthawks have the most shutouts in the nation with 24. Kylee Smith has the second lowest ERA in the country at 0.70. Smith is also No. 2 in hits allowed per seven innings, second in shutouts, second in strikeouts, third in strikeouts per seven innings and second in wins.
Peach Belt Accolades: The Nighthawks took home three of the four major awards last week at the PBC banquet, bringing the Player of the Year (Marley Stowers), Pitcher of the Year (Kylee Smith) and Coach of the Year (Mike Davenport) to Dahlonega. This is the fourth time in league history that a team has taken the player, pitcher and coach awards in the same year with UNG taking the three awards in 2015 and 2016 as well. Armstrong State was the first school to do this in 2012. Hobby Gregory and Kaylyn Anthony were named to the second team, while Stowers and Smith were first team honorees.
