UNG beats Georgia College in series opener
Press Release March 26, 2022
After the Bobcats pushed a run across in the top of the first, North Georgia went on to bat around and score four runs in the first. Nik Levensteins tied the game with a RBI single that plated Crews Taylor before Riley Frost had a RBI single to take the lead. Connor Frost and Jorge Arispuro backed that up with RBI singles as well to take a 4-1 lead.
The Nighthawks pushed another run home in the fourth off a Kaleb Freeman RBI single and take a 5-1 lead. GC scratched a run across in the eighth on a sacrifice fly to get to the final score.
NOTES
– Cade Heil (4-3) earned the win, going seven innings and allowing just the two runs. Jake Arnold earned his third save of the year, fanning two over his two innings of work.
– Taylor, Arispuro and Tim Conway each had two hits on the day.
– Connor Frost has now reached base in 10 straight games.
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The two teams will finish the series tomorrow with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
UNG women’s tennis team wins PBC opener
Business March 23, 2022
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DAHLONEGA – The No. 4 University of North Georgia women’s tennis team handed Lander a loss in their Peach Belt opener in a 6-1 win Saturday afternoon.
North Georgia dominated doubles play, winning 6-2 on the top two lines and 6-3 on the third line. Vaishali Jorge and Claudelle Labonté Frey took down the 25th ranked doubles duo nationally to clinch the point.
The Nighthawks continued the momentum into singles play, winning the first five matches to close, all in straight sets. Labonté Frey had the clinching point, winning in a tiebreak in the second set to give North Georgia their third PBC win of the season.
North Georgia will be back on the courts Tuesday in Columbus, Georgia, to take on Southern Arkansas. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
UNG men’s tennis team beats Southern Arkansas
Press Release March 23, 2022
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COLUMBUS, Ga. – The No. 9 University of North Georgia men’s tennis team defeated its fourth ranked team of the season Tuesday when they beat No. 10 Southern Arkansas, 5-2.
After the Muleriders won the third doubles, North Georgia took down the first and second lines with Ryan Gaskin and Joaquin Benoit beating the 13th ranked duo, 6-4, and Cole Brainard and Daniel Ostap defeating the No. 49 duo, 6-2, to claim the doubles point.
The Nighthawks got off on the right foot in singles play with Giulio Sassi winning at No. 6, 6-2, 6-0, but SAU battled back, winning on the fourth and fifth lines to tie the match up at 2-2. Benoit won a matchup over the No. 19 singles player in the nation by a 6-4, 6-4 score to retake the lead, setting up Gaskin to clinch the match with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the 34th ranked player in the country. Zach Waldow won a three-set match to win the final point for UNG.
North Georgia will take on Tusculum on the road Friday at 1 p.m.
Georgia Southwestern rolls past UNG, 6-2
Press Release March 21, 2022
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DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia baseball team fell Sunday to Georgia Southwestern, 6-2, in Peach Belt Conference action.
GSW got on the scoreboard first, hitting a two run homer and scoring on a wild pitch in the second before getting a RBI double in the sixth to take a 4-0 lead. North Georgia loaded up the bases after the seventh inning stretch and pushed across a run on a RBI groundout to cut into the lead, 4-1.
After the Hurricanes got a sacrifice fly in the eighth, North Georgia again found the scoreboard as Jorge Arispuro hit his first homer of the season to make the score 5-2. GSW scored again in the ninth on a wild pitch to get to the final score.
NOTES
– North Georgia left 14 runners on base, nine of which were in scoring position.
– Crews Taylor, Garrett Hollenbeck, Arispuro and Will Hardigree each had multi-hit games. Hollenbeck is now on an eight-game hitting streak.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will host Montevallo on Tuesday at 5 p.m. for the first of a two-game midweek series.
UNG sweeps pair from Lander
Press Release March 20, 2022
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GREENWOOD, S.C. – The No. 15 University of North Georgia softball team claimed a pair of victories Saturday over Lander to complete the Peach Belt sweep of the Bearcats.
GAME 1 – UNG 7, LU 2
The Nighthawks jumped on top early, scoring four in the first on a bases loaded walk, a Hannah Forehand RBI double and a RBI groundout to take an early 4-0 lead. After Lander scored twice in the third, North Georgia answered by having Jolie Lester steal home in the fifth and take a 5-2 lead.
Lester would bring home the final two runs on a single in the sixth to get the game to its final score.
Delaney Heaberlin earned the win, throwing all seven innings and scattering five hits and a walk.
GAME 2 – UNG 3, LU 2
Lander was the first to score in the nightcap, using an infield single to plate a run in the first inning. All was quiet offensively until Olivia Sinquefield woke the bat up for a solo homer to center to tie the game 1-1 in the sixth.
After Madi Perry scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, Sinquefield plated UNG’s third run of the game on an infield single. Lander got a run in the bottom of the seventh, but Heaberlin worked out of it to get her second win of the day.
NOTES
– Haley Cummings went 3-for-5 on the day, while Lester went 3-for-7.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will battle AUM Tuesday at 3 p.m. in a doubleheader.
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REGIONAL CHAMPIONS!!! No. 5 women’s basketball rallies late to beat No. 11 Lander
Press Release March 15, 2022
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DAHLONEGA – After leading by 13 at halftime and seeing that lead disappear, the No. 5 University of North Georgia women’s basketball team weren’t ready to see their season come to a close, rallying back and scoring with 20 seconds left on the clock to take the lead and beat Lander by a 59-57 score Monday night in the Southeast Regional Championship.
North Georgia came out with the early advantage in a back-and-forth first quarter before stretching the lead out to as many as 14 prior to halftime. Lander battled back, outscoring the Nighthawks 25-7 in the third quarter to take a five point lead into the final quarter.
The Bearcats led nearly the entire fourth quarter, but UNG fought back, going on a 7-0 run over the last three minutes, including seeing Julianne Sutton get a put back layup with 20 seconds left to take the lead. After hitting a pair of free throws, North Georgia had to defend a good look from three for the Bearcats at the buzzer to advance to the second Elite Eight in program history.
NOTES
– Jamari McDavid was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after a team high 20 points in the championship game. She averaged 19.3 points per contest in the tournament. Sutton was also named to the All-Tournament Team after finishing Monday with a third straight double-double, going for 17 points and 11 rebounds.
– This was the fourth straight regional final that North Georgia has been in and the third straight against Lander.
– UNG finishes the season with a home record of 18-1.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will play in the Elite Eight Monday against a team to be named after the final eight are reseeded Tuesday morning. Stay tuned to UNGAthletics.com for all of the updates as they are released.
UNG will host women’s NCAA Regional basketball
Press Release March 7, 2022
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DAHLONEGA – For the second straight year, the University of North Georgia will serve as a regional host after the No. 9 Nighthawk women’s basketball team was named the No. 1 seed in the regional Sunday night in the selection show aired on NCAA.com.
North Georgia won the Peach Belt Conference Tournament after earning regular season champion honors a week prior. Earning the automatic bid from the league, North Georgia will play eighth-seeded Columbus State in the opening round Friday inside the UNG Convocation Center.
Lander earned the second seed as an at-large bid, while Peach Belt Conference school Georgia Southwestern earned their first bid in school history as the No. 3 seed. South Atlantic Conference automatic qualifier Carson-Newman earned the No. 5 seed, while SAC schools Wingate and Catawba earned the No. 4 and No. 7 seeds, respectively. Conference Carolinas automatic qualifier Barton rounds out the field as the No. 6 seed.
Tickets will go on sale later this week at UNGAthletics.com/TICKETS. Tickets will be $10 each and must be pre-purchased. Seniors (65+), students and military can purchase a discounted ticket for $7.
North Georgia played host to the NCAA South Regional last year, marking the first time a NCAA basketball regional was contested in the Gold City.
Nighthawks fall in second half of doubleheader
Press Release March 6, 2022
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GREENWOOD, S.C. – After jumping out to an early lead, the No. 25 University of North Georgia baseball team saw the advantage disappear as Lander won the second game of the series, 8-6, Saturday.
North Georgia loaded up the bases in the second inning and scored three runs in the frame. After scoring one on a double play, Connor Frost doubled and Justin Bailey singled to score two more and take a 3-0 lead. Lander answered by plating single runs in the second and third to take a 3-2 lead.
The Nighthawks would score again in the fourth on a Frost single to take a 4-2 lead, but the Bearcats responded in a big way, scoring two runs on both a double and a single to take a 6-4 lead. Kaleb Freeman got UNG back on the board in the fifth to trim the lead to one, but Lander would extend their lead out to 8-5 on a pair of Nighthawk errors in the sixth. Garrett Hollenbeck plated a run in the eighth on a single to center, but that was all they could muster.
NOTES
– Four Nighthawks combined for eight of UNG’s 11 hits.
– UNG had three doubles, one each from Freeman, Frost and Crews Taylor.
NEXT UP
The rubber match is set for 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
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No. 9 UNG holds off Columbus State in PBC women’s semifinal, 89-78
Press Release March 6, 2022
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DAHLONEGA – After jumping out to a big lead, the No. 9 University of North Georgia women’s basketball team had to hold off a late Columbus State frenzy to win the PBC semifinal Saturday, 89-78.
North Georgia bursted out of the gates, leading 21-9 after one quarter and by as many as 26 points early in the second half before the Cougars fought back, trimming the lead down to eight points at the end of the third period.
The Nighthawks would outscore CSU, but the Cougars got the lead down to five midway through the fourth before North Georgia pulled away late.
NOTES
– Julianne Sutton put up a double-double of 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Jamari McDavid scored 17. Josie Earnhardt and Caroline Martin scored 15 and 11, respectively.
– North Georgia shot nearly 51 percent from the floor and hit 24-of-28 free throws.
– Columbus State’s Amber Abusbeih scored a game high 30 points.
– Clayton State upset No. 6 Lander in the other semifinal, 71-64.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will battle the Lakers tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the PBC Championship.
Sutton, Burson Earn Major Awards; Three women basketball players named to All-Conference team
Business, Press Release March 5, 2022
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AUGUSTA, Ga. – The University of North Georgia women’s basketball program was well represented on the Peach Belt Conference postseason awards list as Julianne Sutton earned Co-Player of the Year honors and Buffie Burson was named Coach of the Year. Additionally, Sutton and Caroline Martin earned first team All-Conference honors, while Abbie Franklin was tabbed to the second team.
A senior forward from Flowery Branch, Georgia, Sutton, along with Lander’s Makaila Cangé, becomes the sixth player in PBC history to repeat as the PBC Player of the Year and the first to do so in non-consecutive seasons. This year, she became the only player in PBC history to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and is currently fourth all time in career points and seventh in career rebounds. Sutton is currently ranked seventh in the PBC in scoring, fourth in rebounding, second in field goal percentage and fifth in free throw percentage.
In her 27th season at North Georgia, Burson led the Nighthawks to the PBC regular-season championship this year, their fourth regular-season title overall and third in the last five years. Her team is the No. 1 seed and host of this week’s PBC Tournament where they are the defending champions and are trying to win their fourth tournament title in five seasons. UNG has been nationally ranked in every WBCA poll this season, rising as high as No. 4 in the nation and among the top 10 for seven weeks; UNG is also ranked atop in the NCAA Southeast Region poll. The Nighthawks lead the PBC in scoring defense, made three-pointers, rebound margin and is ranked in the top three in scoring margin, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and free throw percentage. She wins the PBC Coach of the Year honor for the fourth time, the most ever among women’s basketball coaches.
Martin is second on the team in scoring at 15 points per contest and shoots at a 41 percent clip from beyond the three point line. Last year’s Freshman of the Year, she is an All-Conference honoree for the second time in her career after being named to the Third Team last year.
Franklin averages 8.8 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. She leads the league in assist/turnover ratio at 2.6, nearly a full assist more than the closest player, and is second in the conference in assists per contest at 5.6. She also plays the third most minutes per game in the league. A preseason All-Conference honoree this year, Franklin was named to the 2019-20 All-Conference second team and also won Freshman of the Year honors in 2017-18.
North Georgia will take on Columbus State Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. inside the Convocation Center in the PBC semifinals. Tickets are on sale through the Peach Belt Conference website.
UNG women’s basketball advances to PBC semifinals with win over Young Harris
Press Release March 3, 2022
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DAHLONEGA – The No. 9 University of North Georgia women’s basketball team used a strong first half to propel them to a 73-63 win over Young Harris in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday.
After Young Harris jumped out tp a 15-9 lead midway through the first quarter, North Georgia answered with a 16-4 run to take a six point lead. The Nighthawks would stretch the lead out to 45-30 by halftime and 56-34 midway through the third quarter.
Young Harris fought back, cutting the 22 point lead all the way down to as few as nine with 3:30 to play, but North Georgia buckled down and kept the Mountain Lions at bay to secure the win.
NOTES
– North Georgia hit 8-of-15 three pointers in the first half.
– Caroline Martin led all scorers with 21 points, while Josie Earnhardt added 12. Julianne Sutton put up 11, and Chloe Savage had 10 points off the bench.
– The Nighthawks had 22 assists on 26 made baskets.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will host the semifinals and championship rounds of the tournament this weekend and will play Columbus State Saturday afternoon in the semifinals.
No. 10 Men’s Golf Claims GSW Hurricane Invitational Title
Press Release March 2, 2022
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ALBANY, Ga. – The No. 10 University of North Georgia men’s golf team won its second straight tournament, winning the GSW Hurricane Invitational by one stroke over the host Hurricanes Tuesday.
Noah Zediker finished as the tournament runner-up after a final round of 3-under 69. His 54-hole total of 7-under ties him for third all-time in the program record book. Stephen Kinsel finished in a tie for seventh in the event at 2-under 216, while Evan Thompson was tied for 10th, one shot back of Kinsel.
North Georgia’s 7-under team total is third best all-time in program history and the win marks the second of the year and 10th overall. It’s the first time that UNG has won back-to-back tournaments in program history and just the second time that the Nighthawks have won two in a season.
Carson-Newman was the only other team under par in the event at 4-under and in third place. Columbus State and Belmont Abbey rounded out the top five.
UNG will look to make it three in a row next week at the Bearcat Classic.
UNG scored 31 runs in doubleheader sweep
Press Release February 28, 2022
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LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga. – The No. 4 University of North Georgia softball team took care of business Sunday against Bluefield State, knocking off the Big Blue twice in run-rule fashion.
GAME 1 – UNG 14, BSU 0 (5 inn.)
After scoring on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly in the first inning, North Georgia proceeded to score 11 runs in the second. Hannah Forehand got the inning started with a two run shot to left center that cleared the newly constructed Cottrell Terrace. UNG pushed the score out to 8-0 before Haley Cummings had some fireworks of her own with a two run blast to score the seventh and eighth runs of the inning.
The Nighthawks didn’t stop there as Ashley Garrison hit a RBI triple and then scored on a wild pitch just prior to Jolie Lester bringing home the final run of the frame. Makayla Krepps brought home the game’s final run in the fourth on a double to left field.
Tybee Denton (7-2) got the win, going three innings and fanning seven.
GAME 2 – UNG 17, BSU 0 (5 inn.)
The Nighthawks got a big first inning to start game two, scoring eight in a frame highlighted by the first collegiate home run for Grayson Perry, a three run shot to the deepest part of the ball park.
After plating two in the second, North Georgia had another big inning in the third, crossing home plate seven times. UNG loaded up the bases for RBI singles from Garrison, Mallory Parker and Marley Holmes and a RBI double for Mariah Wicker.
Kristen Davis (2-1) earned the win in four innings of work, sitting eight down by strikes.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will open up Peach Belt play at Columbus State on Saturday with a noon doubleheader.
UNG rallies from 8-run deficit to beat Catawba
Press Release February 28, 2022
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LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga. – After trailing 8-0, the No. 18 University of North Georgia baseball team scored the final nine runs of the game, including one in the bottom of the ninth to finish off the series against Catawba with a 9-8 win Sunday.
Catawba put up three runs in the third, capped off by a Joe Butts two run homer, and five in the fourth to build up the 8-0 lead. The Nighthawks began to claw back in the sixth when Nik Levensteins hit a two run blast to get the rally going. North Georgia then put up five in the seventh off doubles from Connor Frost and Justin Bailey before Levensteins hit his second homer of the day to score the final three of the frame and slash the lead to 8-7.
With the first pitch of the eighth inning, Jake Arnold sent it flying over the wall, tying the game at 8-8. In the ninth, North Georgia loaded the bases with a leadoff double, a hit by pitch and an intentional walk, setting up Kaleb Freeman to draw a seven pitch walk to win the game.
NOTES
– North Georgia’s bullpen combined for six innings of three hit baseball, striking out 11. Daniel Courtney (1-1) got the win, fanning two in a perfect 1.1 innings of work.
– It was the fourth time in his career that Levensteins has hit multiple homers in a game.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will take on Southern Wesleyan in midweek action Tuesday to wrap up the 14-game homestand. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
UNG tennis team outlasts Queens, 5-2
Press Release February 27, 2022
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 11 University of North Georgia men’s tennis team earned a 5-2 win over Queens Saturday afternoon.
North Georgia took the doubles point with a 6-4 win by Cole Brainard and Daniel Ostap at No. 2 and a 7-5 win by Zach Waldow and Connor Evenson at No. 3.
The Nighthawks continued to press through singles, winning on the first, second, fourth and fifth lines. Joaquin Benoit and Ostap won at No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, in three sets after each dropping the first set. Ryan Gaskin won 6-3, 7-6 on the second line, while Giulio Sassi won in three sets at No. 5 in a 10 point tiebreak in the third.
UNG will take on Wingate Thursday in a match originally scheduled for tomorrow that was moved due to forecasted weather. First serve in North Carolina is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Williams spins shutout in UNG win over Catawba
Press Release February 27, 2022
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DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Just hours after playing the longest game in program history, Pierce Williams threw a five hit shutout as the No. 18 University of North Georgia baseball team evened the series with Catawba Saturday with a 2-0 win.
North Georgia scored in the first inning, plating Crews Taylor on a Nik Levensteins sacrifice fly. The Nighthawks pushed their second run across in the third on a Jake Arnold RBI double down the line in left.
From there, Williams took over, stranding three Indians at third base over the final six innings to preserve the shutout.
NOTES
– Williams (3-0) threw 114 pitches, fanning six while walking just one.
– Kaleb Freeman and Garrett Hollenbeck were each 2-for-3 on the day, while Levensteins was 1-for-1 with a single, the sac fly and two walks.
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