ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The No. 8 University of North Georgia (UNG) pulled out a thrilling 9-8 win in extra innings in the series finale of its Peach Belt Conference series at Flagler in St. Augustine, Fla. on Sunday.
Sunday's back-and-forth battle marked the first time the Nighthawks (27-6, 10-2 Peach Belt) had ventured into extra innings in a game this season. The Saints (22-9, 7-2 Peach Belt) still sit behind UNG in the conference standings despite handing the Nighthawks their first PBC losses of the season on Saturday.
The game started with an early 3-0 lead for UNG as junior outfielder
Natalie Ray tattooed her fifth home run of the season in the first inning. The solo blast was followed by a two-run double from senior shortstop
Rylie Moody.
Flagler got one run back in the home half of the inning before tying things with a Sydney Stewart home run in the second inning.
In the fourth inning, the Saints took their first lead of the contest with a single up the middle from Jordan Moss to make it 4-3.
The fifth inning belonged to Ray as she belted her second homer of the game and sixth of the season over the center field wall to tie the game at 4-4. Sunday marked the fifth multi-homer game of the season for the Nighthawks and the first of Ray's career.
In the next inning, redshirt sophomore outfielder
Tagen Levao-Maisonet and junior first baseman
Marycille Brumby each tallied an RBI single to pull UNG back in front 6-4.
A sacrifice fly from freshman second baseman
Jenna Miles added an insurance run before the end of the at bat.
Trailing 7-4, the Saints pulled within one run in the home half of the frame behind Stewart's second solo homer of the game and an RBI infield single from Kily McQuillan.
Flagler then held the Nighthawks off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning. Then, with the bases loaded and two outs, Emily Ricci was hit by the 1-1 pitch to keep the Saints alive and tie the game at 7-7.
Both teams got an RBI double in the eighth inning as the center fielders,
Sydnee Reaves for UNG and Kyla Knier for Flagler, each played their part in trying to end the game.
In the ninth inning, the Nighthawks appeared to be in trouble as sophomore outfielder
Kaitlyn Johnson stepped to the plate with the bases empty and two outs on the board. However, Johnson kept hope alive with a single through the left side. She then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.
Moody then tallied the biggest RBI of the game as she bounced a full-count pitch back up the middle to score Johnson and give her team a 9-8 advantage.
Having thrown over 200 pitches on the day, senior pitcher
Angelina Badalament remarkably took the circle again for the ninth inning to attempt to seal the win. She did just that by retiring all three Saints hitters and securing her league-leading 14th victory of the year.
After closing the road series on a high note, UNG will return to familiar territory against a familiar opponent for a Wednesday doubleheader next week. At Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. (the site of the Nighthawks' 2023 National Championship victory), UNG will face Alabama-Huntsville for a twin billing to start at 2 p.m.
In a standalone game in the Rocket City Softball Showcase back in February, the Nighthawks took down the Chargers 2-1 in a thrilling game at Toyota Field. They'll look to do the same in Chattanooga on Wednesday, March 26.
