COLUMBUS, Ga. – The No. 2 University of North Georgia softball team used a three home run day to take game three of a road series at Columbus State and sweep the second place with the 9-0 win. Now, UNG sits at 38-5 overall this season with a 17-1 record in Peach Belt Conference games.
CSU entered the weekend series in second place just 1.5 games back of the Nighthawks. With three losses, the Cougars still sit in second place 4.5 contests behind UNG with a 14-7 PBC record.
This means that the Nighthawks have clinched at least a share of the PBC regular season title. With six conference games left, UNG's magic number is one as the Nighthawks could lock up the PBC regular season title as early as Apr. 13 when they take on Georgia College at home.
In Saturday's double header sweep, UNG belted five total home runs over the course of both games to get past the Cougars. On Sunday, it kept that moment alive as all nine runs crossed home plate via the long ball with three more deep shots in the game, including a pair of grand slams.
Two of the Nighthawks' three home runs came in the opening inning as they ambushed CSU with five runs in the first.
Sophomore infielder Katie Ward led the game off with her seventh home run of the season to give her team the quick 1-0 advantage. Sophomore outfielder Sydney Blair followed with a single.
It appeared that Cougar starter Haylee Folds had settled in after the first two knocks as she retired the next pair of UNG hitters. However, another single and then a walk loaded the bases for sophomore first baseman Marycille Brumby.
Brumby had a celebratory day on Saturday after launching the first home run of her career in the seventh inning of game two. Her first at bat in Sunday's game was cause for celebration again.
She unloaded on a 2-2 pitch, rocketing a grand slam over the right field wall to make it 5-0.
The home run hitting was not done in the first for UNG. In the second inning, the Nighthawks loaded the bases again, this time for junior infielder Grayson Perry.
Perry joined three of her teammates as the fourth UNG hitter with four home runs this season after belting another grand slam. As the ball sailed beyond the wall in center field, the Nighthawks pulled in front 9-0.
From there, it was senior pitcher Tybee Denton's task to keep the Cougars at bay. She did that and then some as Denton completed her 16th game of the season, allowing no runs on just three hits with four strikeouts.
The win makes Denton 20-1 this season and serves as another feather in her cap during what's been one of the best seasons in the country. She's the only pitcher in NCAA Division II with 20 wins this season and at a .952 rate, she has the highest win percentage of any pitcher who holds 17 or more wins.
Denton will likely make her 22nd start of the season next week as UNG returns home to Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park for the first time in seven games.
The Nighthawks will face Alabama Huntsville who sits just outside the top 25 of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) weekly poll. The two teams will play a rescheduled double header on Wednesday, Apr. 10 with game one beginning at 1 p.m.
