DAHLONEGA – The No. 8 University of North Georgia (UNG) softball team swept Columbus State (CSU) in a doubleheader at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium Saturday to take all three games of the series.

The Nighthawks (37-8, 16-2 Peach Belt) moved one step closer to securing the program's 11th consecutive Peach Belt Conference regular season title with the pair of wins over the Cougars (28-22, 7-11). 

At 16-2 in conference play, UNG sits atop the conference leaderboard ahead of second-place Flagler who holds a 10-7 conference record. The Saints will play Lander in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday, April 13 after already having lost the first two games. With a Bearcats win, the Nighthawks will hold a six-game lead with six games left in the conference season, thus clinching at least a share of the regular-season title.

History was made in the doubleheader in Dahlonega on Saturday as freshman catcher Carleigh Knowles broke the program single-season home run record with her 20th blast of the year. 

With a homer in game one and another in game two, no player in UNG softball history has ever hit more homers in a season than Knowles. She broke Maraget Simmons' record of 19 dingers from 2021. The freshman currently stands alone as the nation's home run leader in the 2025 season to date.

Her blast and four others helped the Nighthawks to an 11-2 (5 Inn.) victory in the first game. Nine of UNG's 11 runs in game one were brought in via an extra base hit, eight of which came from the long ball.

In game two, the Cougars found some offense but it would be not enough to win the marathon as the Nighthawks emerged victorious 17-12. They hit another five homers in the series finale, totaling 10 on the day between the two games.

Now UNG looks ahead to a three-game weekend series on the road against Augusta. First pitch in game one of a doubleheader against the Jaguars on Friday, April is set for 1 p.m.

Game 1: Nighthawks def. Cougars, 11-2 (5 Inn.)
After celebrating the team's three seniors Angelina Badalament, Sadye Johnson and Rylie Moody ahead of the team's final regular-season home game, the Nighthawks continued to celebrate with a barrage of homers in the opener of the doubleheader.

In just the third at bat of the contest, junior outfielder Natalie Ray scorched a ball to the gap in left center field that landed just beyond the fence. The two-run shot made it 2-0 early and set the tone for what would be a big day offensively. 

Two batters later, junior pitcher Chloe Poss launched her second homer of the year and second in as many days to make it 3-0 Nighthawks after the first inning.

CSU did get a run back in the top of the second inning, but it was quickly mitigated by another home run in the bottom half. This time it was junior first baseman Marycille Brumby who connected with a ball for an opposite-field solo blast. 

In the third inning, redshirt sophomore outfielder Tagen Levao-Maisonet added the first RBI of the day that did not come from a home run. She came one base shy as she roped a ball to right field before running out a triple in which Poss scored to make it a 5-1 ball game.

Then stepped up Knowles in the fourth inning. With Moody at third base and one out in the inning, Knowles swung and flew a ball to the opposite field that just kept carrying. It landed beyond the fence in right field to completely blow the game open at 7-1 and tie the single-season home run record.

Later in the fourth, a double steal worked to perfection for sophomore infielder Ava Lunsford who took second base, allowing Poss to cross the plate for the third time in the game.

Johnson, a senior from Adairsville, Ga. who was celebrated prior to Saturday's contest, was inserted as a pinch hitter later in the frame. She did not shy away from the moment as she laced a line-drive home run to left field for her second blast of the year. The senior capped off the scoring at 11-1.

Fellow senior and starting pitcher Badalament had a strong game in the circle for UNG. She pitched the entirety of the five-inning outing with only four hits allowed and two runs. For the fourth time this season and the first since March 8, Badalament struck out five batters as well to earn her league-leading 18th win of the year.

Game 2: Nighthawks def. Cougars, 17-12
In game two, it did not take long for the Nighthawks to pick up exactly where they left off in the opener. 

With a runner on and one out in the bottom of the first, Ray blasted her second first-inning two-run homer of the day as she lifted the ball to straight away center field to make it 2-0. 

Then, Knowles came up to bat once more. With the record already tied, everyone in Dahlonega waited on the edge of their seat wondering if they might see history. They did not have to wait long as Knowles reached down and clobbered a 1-0 pitch to left field for her second home run of the day and program-record 20th of the year. 

The Cougars quickly showed their competitive spirit in the second inning though with a homer and an RBI double that aided a three-run inning to tie the game.

Then UNG used another homer to take the three-run lead right back as junior center fielder Sydnee Reaves drilled her ninth bomb of the season to make it 6-3 in the bottom of the second.

CSU posted a pair of runs in the fourth to pull within one, but not before a triple from Moody, her fourth of the year, brought in Reaves to push the advantage back to 7-5. In the same inning Knowles scorched a ball to right center for the first triple of her collegiate career. The extra base knock plated the third run of the inning to make it 9-5.

After giving up a run in the top of the fifth, UNG expanded on its lead while at the plate behind an RBI single from sophomore third baseman Journey Roberts and a pair of RBI knocks from Reaves and Poss to post a four-run inning.

At 13-6 in the fifth inning, it looked like the Nighthawks were going to run away with the win but CSU did not give up so easily. Four runs in the top of the sixth suddenly made it a three-run game and gave the Cougars momentum.

UNG snatched that momentum in the home half of the frame, however. 

Levao-Maisonet launched her fourth homer of the season, a solo blast to left center to add a run. That gave way to Moody who belted a ball down the left field line for a three-run round tripper to finalize the Nighthawk scorecard at 17 runs. 

Moody joined Ray and Knowles as the only Nighthawks with double digit home runs this season after her sixth-inning blast. Five UNG hitters have six or more dingers this season while a total of nine players have multiple home runs and 13 have hit at least one. 

The explosive offensive day cemented a 17-12 victory and series sweep for the Nighthawks on Saturday. UNG has now won nine straight games and is on a seven-game win streak within the PBC.