DAHLONEGA – The No. 8 University of North Georgia softball team started its quest for a second consecutive national championship with an 8-0 win over Augusta in the first round of postseason play in the 2024 Peach Belt Conference Softball Tournament Friday afternoon. Hosted at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park, the Nighthawks' consistent offensive attack and dominant pitching led to the six inning victory.
Senior pitcher and 2024 PBC Pitcher of the Year Tybee Denton was true to form in her first postseason start. Denton was virtually unhittable in the first three innings, striking out six of the first seven batters she faced before finally allowing a hit in the third inning.
By then, UNG was already up 2-0 after an RBI single from senior outfielder Madison Simmons and aggressive base running from senior third baseman Gracie Mixson who scored on a throwing error.
Senior outfielder Mallory Parker added to the lead with a solo shot in the bottom of the third, her seventh home run of the season.
Denton continued to roll with two more strikeouts in the fourth and another two in the fifth.
Then in the home half of the fifth, a single and two walks for the Nighthawks loaded the bases for junior designated player Grayson Perry. She broke the game open by crushing a grand slam for her fifth home run of the year. On Thursday, Perry received all-conference honors for the first time in her career, being named to the PBC All-Conference First Team as a designated player.
Now holding a 7-0 lead, Denton faced her first real trouble of the game in the top of the sixth inning.
The frame began single, walk, single to load the bases. Denton then got a weak fly ball to shallow right field to hold all runners and record the first out. Then, as no surprise, she struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam, totaling 12 strikeouts on the day. The performance marked the sixth time this year Denton has struck out double-digit batters in a game.
In the sixth, Parker came through again for an RBI, sealing the win on a flared single to score sophomore outfielder Sydney Blair and clinch the run rule victory, 8-0.
In game two of the PBC Tournament at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium, fourth-seeded Flagler held off a late-game comeback bid from fifth-seeded USC Aiken to hold on for the win.
Now the Nighthawks and Saints will face each other tomorrow, Saturday, Apr. 27 at 12 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since Flagler handed UNG its first conference loss of the season back on Mar. 23. The Nighthawks went on to win that series with 11-1 and 1-0 victories in the final two games.
Adding to the drama, Saturday's matchup pits the Coach of the Year winners against each other as UNG's Mike Davenport and Flagler's Kathryn Grant were voted as 2024 PBC Co-Coaches of the Year on Thursday.
The winner of Saturday's game advances to the final game of the quarterfinals on Sunday, while the loser will turn around and play in game five of the tournament later in the day at 5 p.m.
