Taylor’s walkoff homer sends UNG to PBC Baseball Championship Series
Press Release May 9, 2021PRESS RELEASE
Crews Taylor
DAHLONEGA, Ga. — After forcing a decisive game three, the No. 25 University of North Georgia baseball team used a pair of long balls, including a Crews Taylor walkoff blast, to advance to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship Series, presented by Under Armour, Saturday night with a sweep of Young Harris.
GAME ONE – #25 UNG 6, YHC 3
Pierce Williams was perfect through 5.2 innings of work, allowing North Georgia to jump out to an early lead. In the third, Taylor poked a RBI single to right field before Andres Perez had a sacrifice fly that pushed UNG out to a 2-0 lead. The Nighthawks extended the lead in the fourth on a RBI double from Will Hardigree and again in the fifth on a two-run homer from Perez, making the score 5-0.
The Mountain Lions answered in the eighth, plating three runs off a Brett Hawkins RBI double and a Logan Worley RBI single to cut the lead to 5-3 before UNG got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth off a Taylor homer.
Williams (4-0) went the complete game, fanning five while allowing just a pair of hits and three walks.
GAME TWO – #25 UNG 12, YHC 10
North Georgia again got on the board first on a two-run bomb from Jake Arnold in the third and RBI singles from Arnold and Nik Levensteins in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead. YHC came back in the fifth to tie it up off a Brandon Jolliff two-run homer and RBI singles from Dahlton Cash and Jackson Jones.
UNG retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a Brady Eeles sacrifice fly, but the Mountain Lions stormed out in front, plating six runs over the sixth and seventh innings to take a 10-5 lead. North Georgia started to claw back into it after the stretch as Levensteins pushed a RBI single out to right field to trim the lead to 10-6.
In the eighth, Tim Conway hit a one-out solo homer to straight away center to cut into the lead a little further. After a strikeout got the inning to two outs, Bill LeRoy and Eeles reached base ahead of Levensteins who tied the game with a single swing to right center at 10-10.
UNG got Arnold on to leadoff the ninth ahead of Taylor, who pushed UNG to the championship series with a two-run blast to right center.
Beau Jones (3-1) earned the win in relief, allowing just one walk over 2.2 innings, punching out four Mountain Lions.
NOTES
– The Nighthawks will look to win their first PBC Tournament title since 2008 and are now in the championship for the first time since 2009.
– UNG hit six homers on the day, pushing their season total to 86, breaking the single season record at UNG which stood at 80 from the 2017 campaign.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will wait on the other semifinal series between Columbus State and UNC Pembroke to wrap up tomorrow before seeing their opponent in another best-of-three series next weekend. Columbus State won the opener, 7-3, Saturday afternoon. If Columbus State wins once Sunday, UNG would host the Cougars in the championship, while if the Braves sweep Sunday’s twinbill, the Nighthawks would travel to UNCP next weekend.
7 in a row for Nighthawks
Business May 3, 2021
PRESS RELEASE
Nighthawks win Peachbelt Conference softball title
DAHLONEGA – For the seventh consecutive year, the fourth-ranked University of North Georgia softball team can call itself Peach Belt Conference Regular Season Champions as they took down Columbus State Sunday. The regular season crown was won after a 3-1 win in the first half of the twinbill before the Nighthawks walked off the nightcap with a grand slam.
GAME ONE – #4 UNG 3, CSU 1
Columbus State struck first as Morgan Elston hit a solo homer to center field in the second, but the Nighthawks responded immediately, plating a pair on a Gracie Mixson RBI single and a RBI groundout to take the lead.
Neither team was able to scratch a run across until UNG broke through in the fourth on a Shelby Hammontree RBI single up the middle, putting the game at its final score.
Kylee Smith (14-3) was given the win, going all seven while fanning six.
GAME TWO – #4 UNG 6, CSU 3
Shelby Hammontree
The Cougars again found the scoreboard first, this time putting up two in the first inning on an Elston sacrifice fly and a RBI single from Laura Harris. Hannah Rose Corbin extended the CSU lead to 3-0 in the second on a fielder’s choice.
From there, it was all UNG as Marley Holmes got the Nighthawks their first hit of the game on an opposite field homer that trimmed the lead to 3-1 in the third. In the fifth inning, Kaylyn Anthony singled through the six hole to bring home another run.
The Nighthawks loaded the bases up in the seventh for Hammontree who nearly hit the scoreboard in right center with a walkoff grand slam, breaking the career home runs mark at UNG in the process.
Laken Chambers (11-0) got the win in relief, going 5.2 innings and allowing just one hit. She struck out three Cougars.
NOTES
– UNG extends its record of consecutive Peach Belt titles to seven. They have won a total of 10 conference regular season titles, the most in conference history.
– Following the doubleheader, the UNG softball program honored eight players who either already have or are ending their careers following this season, including 2020 seniors Jenna Goodrich and Lexi Duncan as well as Smith, Hammontree, Anthony, Chambers, Cheyanne Mosteller and Margaret Simmons.
NEXT UP
UNG will host Columbus State in a single game on Saturday, May 8, in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals. Check UNGAthletics.com later this week for game time and ticketing information.
UNG finishes third at PBC track and field championships
Press Release May 2, 2021
PRESS RELEASE
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The University of North Georgia track and field team turned in their best performance in program history at the Peach Belt Conference Championships, earning third place overall with 126 points.
In addition to multiple All-Conference honors and individual championships, Bree Hammond was named the Track Athlete of the Year, while Olivia Terwilliger won the Elite 16 Award presented by EAB. Abigail Kirkland was also named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.
Hammond got the day started by winning the 5K with a time of 17:58.97, winning the race by nine seconds after taking the lead with 500 meters to go. Karmen LeRoy also tallied a point for the Nighthawks with an eighth place finish in the event.
Journey Gurley earned four points for UNG with a triple jump length of 10.26 meters, good for fifth place and second in program history. Caroline Jones also earned a point by finishing eighth in the event.
North Georgia garnered eight points in the 4×100 relay with a second place finish as Abbie Crane, Jasmine Hughes, Gurley and Kirkland ran a 48.78 to break the program record. Shortly after, Abby Greenwood took seventh in the 100 hurdles with a 16.52, breaking the program record in the event and taking two points for UNG.
Kirkland earned her first individual championship of the day in the 400 with a 54.90 one lap sprint, earning 10 points and hitting a provisional mark for NCAA qualification. After taking a point in the 100 with an eighth place finish, Kirkland went on to win the 200 as well with a 24.33 half lap, also surpassing the provisional qualifying mark in the event. Both broke program records as well.
Crane took three points with a sixth place finish in the 100 with a 12.87, good for third best all-time in the event in program history. In the 800, Claire Mills and Emery Ryan finished sixth and seventh, respectively, to garner five total points. In the 400 hurdles, Greenwood and Cat Watry took nine points with fourth and fifth place finishes. Hughes finished seventh in the 200, taking two points for UNG.
The meet finished with Hammond winning the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 11:40.78 as North Georgia swept the All-Conference honors in the event. Sydney Bolyard and Audrey Gleason took second and third in the event.
The Nighthawk 4×400 meter relay team finished in fourth to wrap up the meet.
Gurley will now prepare for the pole vault national championships while Kirkland will await selections for the 200 and 400 meter races.
Jorge, Lippert earn All-PBC honors
Business May 2, 2021
AUGUSTA, Ga. – University of North Georgia women’s tennis player Vaishali Jorge earned first team All-Peach Belt honors in both singles and doubles, the league office announced Thursday afternoon. Jorge was joined by her doubles partner, Johanna Lippert, on the first team doubles line, while Rafaella Jean Villanueva earned second team singles honors.
Johanna Lippert
Jorge is 7-8 overall in singles play, but went 5-2 in conference action, all on the top line. She went 6-4 with Lippert on the top doubles line. For Jorge, these are her second All-Conference honors in both singles and doubles after getting first team doubles and second team singles in 2019. This is Lippert’s first All-Conference honor in her career.
Villanueva is 6-0 in singles action on the year, winning both of her singles matches in league play. This is her first All-Conference honor of her career.
UNG tennis teams earn No. 3 seeds in Peach Belt Conference Tournaments
Team FYN Sports April 19, 2021
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Sutton named to Academic All-District team
Sports, Team FYN Sports, University of North Georgia February 21, 2020
Julianne Sutton
DAHLONEGA – University of North Georgia women’s basketball player Julianne Sutton was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 Team Thursday, as announced by the association.
Sutton becomes the third women’s basketball player all-time to be named to the All-District team, joining Stephanie Huffman and Deana Blankinship. The junior from Flowery Branch, Georgia, currently leads the Peach Belt in scoring at 18.6 points per game and is third in field goal percentage. She sports a 3.38 GPA while majoring in Kinesiology, Health & Fitness.
Sutton is the only Peach Belt member on the All-District team, joining Carson-Newman’s Kayla Marosites, Anderson’s Alexy Mollenhauer and Belmont Abbey’s Allie Downing and Maria Kuhlman on the team.
First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team (if applicable) Academic All-America honorees will be announced between March 10.
The CoSIDA Academic All-District® teams include the student-athletes listed on the links above, and are divided into geographic districts across the United States and Canada.
The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CoSIDA Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA national office.
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Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Conway named PBC Freshman of the Week
Sports, Team FYN Sports, UNG Baseball February 4, 2020
Tim Conway
AUGUSTA, Ga. – University of North Georgia baseball player Tim Conway was named the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday morning.
Conway began his collegiate career by hitting .417 with five RBIs in a three-game sweep of Auburn-Montgomery. The outfielder from Decatur, Georgia, collected hits in all three games, going 3-for-4 with a triple in the finale. He collected three RBI in the opener and added one each in the second and third games, finishing the series with a 1.171 OPS and six runs scored. He is tied for fourth in the PBC in RBIs, second in runs scored and 10th in on-base percentage.
The Nighthawks open Peach Belt Conference play this weekend when they take on Claflin at Bob Stein Stadium at Cottrell Park. First pitch Friday in the series opener is set for 4 p.m.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
UNG baseball voted Peach Belt Conference favorite
Sports, Team FYN Sports, University of North Georgia January 25, 2020
Steven Bower
AUGUSTA, Ga. – After winning the regular season championship for the third time in five years in 2019, the University of North Georgia baseball team was picked to win the league in the preseason coaches poll, the conference office announced Friday morning.
The Nighthawks captured eight of a possible 11 first-place votes and 117 total points to come in ahead of second-place Columbus State. Young Harris was third in the voting with USC Aiken and Georgia College tied for fourth.
North Georgia takes the top spot in the preseason poll for the second time in their PBC history, the first coming in 2016. Four different PBC teams received first-place votes in this year’s poll with Columbus State taking one, Young Harris two and Flagler one.
The Nighthawks finished with a 33-20 overall record and 19-11 mark in league play. UNG brings back five seniors for 2020 including first-team All-Conference pitcher Steven Bower and second baseman Bill LeRoy, who was named to the preseason All-Conference team earlier this week. 12 juniors will also fill out the roster Crews Taylor, who was named preseason All-Conference, and reliever Parker Morrison who was a second-team All-Conference selection last year.
Coaches were not permitted to rank their own team.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Saints rout Nighthawks in Peach Belt Conference
Sports, Team FYN Sports, University of North Georgia January 5, 2020
KJ Jenkins
DAHLONEGA – KJ Jenkins matched his career high 17 points, but it wasn’t enough as the University of North Georgia men’s basketball team fell to Flagler in Peach Belt play, 90-68, Saturday afternoon.
North Georgia held as large as a six point lead in the first half, but Flagler hung around to get to a 21-21 tie with seven minutes to play in the opening half. The Saints then went on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to pull away to as many as 19 early in the second half.
The Nighthawks answered in the middle portion of the second half, cutting the lead down to nine with just under eight minutes to play, but the Saints answered with a big run to stretch the lead to as many as 24 in the final moments of the game.
NOTES
Jenkins shot 5-for-13 from the floor, including 3-for-7 from distance. Zach Brown also finished with double digit points with 11.
Gedi Juozapaitis led all scorers with 33 points and nine rebounds, shooting 11-for-18 from the floor.
Flagler shot 19-of-27 in the second half on their way to a near 51 percent shooting performance on the night.
NEXT UP
UNG will hit the road to Americus, Georgia, to take on Georgia Southwestern. Start time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
UNG women’s soccer beats Young Harris, advances to PBC semis
Sports, Team FYN Sports November 13, 2019DAHLONEGA – A fifth-minute goal by Katey Derkay was all that was needed, but the No. 18 University of North Georgia women’s soccer team found the net twice more as they advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals by downing Young Harris, 3-0, Tuesday night at the UNG Soccer Complex.
Derkay fired two shots in a matter of seconds to score the first goal of the night, the first of which was saved off the line by the YHC defense after the keeper was beaten by Maysoon El-Shami.
The Nighthawks were held scoreless until the 81st minute when Taylor Malasek put home her 15th goal of the year just nine minutes before El-Shami scored in the waning seconds of the match.
NOTES
- Friday will be the eighth time that UNG has appeared in the semifinal round of the PBC Tournament and the fourth in the last five years.
- North Georgia has now had 12 shutouts on the year.
- The Nighthawks are 8-0-1 at home this year.
- Other PBC quarterfinal action saw sixth-seeded Clayton State advance on penalties over third-seeded UNC Pembroke; fourth-seeded Columbus State defeated Georgia College, 1-0; and top-seeded Flagler beat Lander, 2-0.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will take on Clayton State at 2 p.m. at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Georgia, Friday afternoon.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
UNG Soccer Set to Host PBC Quarterfinals Tuesday
University of North Georgia October 30, 2017
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10/30/2017 | Men’s Soccer
DAHLONEGA – For the second year in a row, the University of North Georgia men’s and women’s soccer teams will both host the Peach Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals at the UNG Soccer Complex. The women and men will both take on USC Aiken tomorrow evening in Dahlonega.
The Nighthawk women trailed the Pacers, 2-0, early in the first half before scoring the final three goals of the match to come away with a 3-2 win in Aiken back on October 14. Since that point, UNG has gone 3-0, outscoring opponents 17-2 in the stretch, while USCA has gone 1-1 with a win over Clayton State. This is the fourth consecutive year the women have hosted the quarterfinal round of the tournament and the first time in program history that the Nighthawks are the No. 1 seed. UNG’s men defeated USC Aiken, 3-0, in their matchup two weeks ago with goals scored by Gabriel Garcia, Carl Ludwig Eriksson and Michael Akin. The Nighthawks finished the season at 2-1 after the match in Aiken, defeating GSW and Clayton State on their way to the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The women will start the doubleheader at 5 p.m. and the men will follow at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast through the Nighthawk Sports Network as well. |
UNG’s VanHorn Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year
Sports, Team FYN Sports, University of North Georgia August 7, 2019
Renee VanHorn
INDIANAPOLIS — Former University of North Georgia women’s soccer player Renee VanHorn was selected as the Peach Belt Conference’s nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday.
The women’s soccer player from Marietta, Georgia, emerged from the field of nine PBC players who were among the initial list of 585 nominations submitted by NCAA institutions at the Division I, II and III levels. Her selection as the conference’s nominee was made by the league’s Senior Woman Administrators.
VanHorn graduated in the Spring of 2019 with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management. Finishing her undergraduate career with a 3.73 GPA, she was named to the PBC All-Academic Team three times and the Presidential Honor Roll three times as well, earning a gold, silver and bronze scholar. She was also awarded the Women of UNG Leadership Recognition Award in 2018 as one of the top ten student leaders at North Georgia.
On the field, she was named All-Region three times and All-Conference twice, leading the Nighthawks to a regular season championship in 2017. She was also named the PBC Player of the Week three times and the Nighthawk of the Week five times.
The Top 30 honorees, comprising 10 women from each division, will be named by the Woman of the Year selection committee in September. The selection committee will then narrow the pool to nine finalists – with three from each division – in early October. From those finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the 2019 Woman of the Year.
The 2019 Woman of the Year will be named, and the Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, at the annual banquet Oct. 20 in Indianapolis.
The NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.
UNG’s Shawn Hopkins named to PBC All-Conference Team
Team FYN Sports March 9, 2019
Hopkins Named Third Team All-Conference
3/8/2019
AUGUSTA – University of North Georgia men’s basketball player Shawn Hopkins was named to the Peach Belt Conference’s Third Team All-Conference as announced by the league at the tournament banquet Friday night.
Hopkins, a senior from Nokia, Finland, finished the year as the conference’s seventh-leading scorer at 16.1 points per game. He had double figures in 25 games this season, scoring 20 or more in seven of those games. He was seventh in the league in minutes per game and finished the season with one double-double.
2018-19 PBC Men’s Basketball
All-Conference Team
First Team
Xavier Barmore, USC Aiken
Ty’lik Evans, USC Aiken
Brandon Parker, Francis Marion
Akia Pruitt, UNC Pembroke
Deane Williams, Augusta
Second Team
Ryan Davis, Francis Marion
Brian Harper, Young Harris
Rafael Monteiro, Augusta
James Murray-Boyles, UNC Pembroke
Jordan Thomas, Georgia College
Third Team
Shawn Hopkins, North Georgia
Landrius Horton, Columbus State
Justin Jones, Young Harris
Isaac Thomas, Georgia College
Marquel Wiggins, Lander
Elite 15 Award Presented by EAB
Kyle Tackeberry, USC Aiken
Mike & Amy Wood Foundation Graduate Scholarship
Aaron Byrd, Augusta
Co-Freshmen of the Year
Miguel Arnold, Augusta
Kailex Stephens, Francis Marion
Defensive Player of the Year
Deane Williams, Augusta
Co-Players of the Year
Brandon Parker, Francis Marion
Deane Williams, Augusta
Coach of the Year
Dip Metress, Augusta
Kylee Smith Named Finalist For NFCA/Schutt Sports National Freshman of the Year
University of North Georgia May 18, 2017
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CHAD HAYNIE // Director of Athletic Communications
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH GEORGIA ATHLETICS
M: 205-246-4259
Website: UNGAthletics.com | Twitter: @UNG_Nighthawks | #HawkEm
UNG lands three on All-Region track and field team
Sports, Team FYN Sports, University of North Georgia May 15, 2019
NEW ORLEANS – Three University of North Georgia athletes have earned a spot on the 2019 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region team.
Imani Arnold earned all-region honors in the 800 meter race after finishing fourth at the Peach Belt Conference Championships. Bree Hammond was named All-Region in the steeplechase after finishing runner up at the conference meet, and Abigail Kirkland was All-Region in the 400 meter hurdles after winning her second straight PBC Championship in the event.
The top-5 individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region honors, in addition to each of the members of the region’s top-3 relay teams. A total of 1,831 honors were handed out to USTFCCCA member institutions on Monday, which included 926 to men’s programs and an additional 905 to women’s programs.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
UNG splits DH with Young Harris, wins series
Sports, UNG Baseball April 7, 2019
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – No. 9 University of North Georgia split a Peach Belt doubleheader with Young Harris Saturday to clinch the conference series.
In Game 1, the Mountain Lions scored first in the bottom of the first on a Zavier Lushington solo homer to put YHC up, 1-0. Young Harris continued to put runs up, scoring three in the fourth on two RBI singles. YHC scored two unearned runs in the sixth before plating their final three runs in the seventh to earn the 9-0 win.
North Georgia had multiple chances to put up runs in the game, leaving 14 runners on base in the game.
The UNG bats came alive in Game 2 as the Nighthawks soared to an 11-2 win.
The fireworks started with a three-run blast from Conner Corbitt in the second inning.
YHC answered with a run in the bottom of the frame on a RBI groundout to cut the lead to two.
After a RBI groundout for UNG pushed the lead back to three, Young Harris used a solo shot to cut the lead to two again through four innings.
In the seventh, North Georgia got two homers, first a two-run bomb from Crews Taylor before a solo shot by Chase Sudduth in the next at-bat. Sudduth brought home another run in the ninth on a RBI double before a RBI groundout brought home the 11th run.
NOTES
Sudduth was 4-for-6 at the plate in the doubleheader.
North Georgia had 16 hits in the second game of the day, their second most in league play this season.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will take on Auburn Montgomery on Wednesday with first pitch set for 5 p.m.