After stunning Clemson, UNCG falls in elimination game of softball NCAA Tournament

After upsetting Clemson on Friday and winning its first ever NCAA tournament game, the UNCG softball team (43-19) was battling to stay alive on Saturday night.

UNCG fell to the nation's No. 10 seed Georgia, 8-0, on Saturday afternoon on the Bulldogs' home field in the Athens Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Then, lost to Clemson in a rematch, 4-1, later that evening to conclude its postseason run.

In the elimination game, the Spartans gave up two doubles in the first inning, placing them in a hole early.

Walks, errors and stolen bases further hurt the UNCG cause as Clemson's Jamison Brockenbrough scored an unearned run in the top of the third inning.

It took until the bottom of the fifth for the Spartans to finally score, stacking singles to run in sophomore Hadley Gardner.

Just when UNCG looked poised to comeback, Clemson added more cushion to its lead, hitting a sacrifice groundout followed by an unearned run off Kiley Channell's single in the top of the seventh.

Ultimately, the Spartans couldn't pick up any momentum in the make-or-breaking inning, retiring after four batters and ending their season.

Georgia struck first in the opening inning on Saturday, with senior Sarah Gordon slamming a two-run home run into right field, also scoring graduate Keirstin Roose, who took the leadoff walk.

The Bulldogs added two more in the top of the fourth inning off another rocket. Roose homered into left field, scoring herself and junior Emily Digby. UNCG pitcher Brooklyn Shroyer walked in a run to increase the deficit to 5-0.

Georgia added three more runs in the fifth, while shutting the door on the Spartan offense in the bottom of the inning.

UNCG advanced to the second round of the double-elimination regional after securing its first-ever NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon.

There was jumping, embracing and a whole lot of celebrating.

On Friday evening, UNCG stunned No. 22 Clemson (32-21) 1-0 in the first round of the regional.

The only scoring action came early. UNCG got right to work in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Macy Michael singled up the middle, then advanced to third base after a sacrifice bunt and a fielding error. A sacrifice groundout by sophomore Laney Deane allowed Michael to score.

Bats fell silent for the remaining innings. So, it was up to the Spartan defense to secure the win.

Shroyer dealt six strikeouts and only allowed five hits to post the 18th shutout of the season, the most since 2000 when UNCG recorded 19.

The Spartans earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament after winning the SoCon conference championship, defeating Samford 4-0 in the program's first shutout in a title game. UNCG swept both the regular season and conference championships for the fourth time in its history.

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