DAHLONEGA – For the thirteenth time in program history, the No. 5 University of North Georgia (UNG) softball team claimed the Peach Belt Conference Tournament (PBC) Championship after a 10-5 win over Columbus State on Sunday afternoon at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium.
The stage was set for a highly-anticipated championship matchup between the top two seeds in the tournament. During the regular season, Columbus State was the only team to hand the Nighthawks a series defeat. North Georgia answered that loss with a 12-game winning streak to close out the regular season and through the conference tournament, capped off with a win over the Cougars in the title game today.
The Nighthawks blitzed Columbus State early, taking a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
With two outs, bases loaded and a full count, Kayla Berry flashed her plate discipline by drawing a walk to put the first run up on the board for North Georgia.
Journey Roberts continued to deliver in tournament play, as she followed up Berry by lacing a first-pitch double to left field to score three more Nighthawk runs and push the lead to four.
Chloe Poss kept the two-out rally alive by sending an RBI single up the middle to bring Roberts home and give the Nighthawks a sizeable advantage after the first inning.
Down by five, the Cougars were not going to go down easily. Columbus State used an RBI single in the second and a leadoff homer in the top of the third to cut the North Georgia lead down to three.
The Cougars continued to cause chaos in the fourth with back-to-back run-scoring doubles in a two-out rally of their own to erase the five-run deficit and tie the game.
North Georgia pivoted to Caroline Conner out of the bullpen to pick up a strikeout for the final out and bring her bats back up in the home half of the inning.
The Nighthawks needed a response in the bottom of the fourth, and they got just that with another five-run inning to recapture the lead.
After a leadoff single from Ava Lunsford, Jenna Miles sent her home with an RBI single through the left side to put UNG back out in front. Carleigh Knowles kept things moving by roping a two RBI double down the left field line to plate Miles and Sydnee Reaves.
With Knowles on second, Morgan Martin, who has become one of the best home-run hitters in the PBC, blasted her 13th of the season past the scoreboard in right field to once again give the Nighthawks a five-run cushion.
Conner continued to work in the circle, retiring the side in the fifth and sixth innings to keep the Cougars off the board.
In the top of the seventh, Conner saw just four Columbus State bats to seal the deal. Kaitlyn Johnson caught the final out in left, and the Nighthawks rushed the field as champions of the PBC.
Conner delivered her most impressive game of the season in the tournament championship, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings while picking up two strikeouts and not surrendering a single hit to the Cougars.
North Georgia got well-balanced production from the bats, as nine different Nighthawks recorded a hit in the championship. Marycille Brumby, Miles and Martin delivered multi-hit performances, and Roberts led all players with three RBI.
Martin, Poss, Roberts and Berry earned PBC All-Tournament Team selections.
Berry was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player after her standout performance across the weekend. The Acworth, Ga. native finished the tournament 5-7 with a triple, six runs, five walks and an RBI.
The Nighthawks are now regular season and tournament champions in PBC Coach of the Year Brooke O'Hair's second year at the helm of the UNG softball program.
With conference tournament play in the books, North Georgia moves on to the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament. The Nighthawks await the selection show, scheduled for Monday, May 11 at 10 a.m.
