DAHLONEGA, Ga. - The stage is set for the 2024 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship as the second seed Columbus State University Cougars are back in it for the 14th time, facing first seed the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Ga. Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4. This is the sixth time that the Cougars and Nighthawks will go head-to-head in the championship series.

The Nighthawks have won 12 PBC Tournament Championships and the Cougars have won five. Since 2005, with the exception of one year, CSU and UNG have been the only two teams to win the championship.

Columbus State marks a 33-21 record and finished the PBC regular-season 16-8. North Georgia is 46-8 and posted a 21-3 record in the regular-season. 

After falling 4-5 against Georgia Southwestern in the opening game of the tournament on Friday, April 26, the Cougars entered the losers bracket with some determination to win out, which they did. CSU had to win four games straight to advance to the championship series this weekend. With grit and pure passion for the game, the Cougars fought their way through the losers bracket, beating Lander, Georgia College and Georgia Southwestern twice, scoring 51 total runs throughout the weekend to secure their spot in the finals.

Compared to CSU's five games in the first weekend of the tournament, the Nighthawks played three, staying in the winners bracket. UNG defeated Augusta 8-0 in six innings on the first day, then beat Flagler 9-4 on Saturday. Flagler also fought their way through the losers bracket to face the Nighthawks again on Sunday, but UNG won 9-0 in five innings.

During the regular-season, UNG beat CSU in three games, however, two of the games were just by a few runs. In the doubleheader on Saturday, UNG won 5-4 and 7-4 against CSU. At the plate, Kenzie Bayer led the Cougars going 2-for-7 with three RBI while Nova Wright also was 2-for-7 with a home run and two RBI. Laura Harris and Katelyn Cooper recorded two hits in the series, with Cooper hitting a double and a triple. 

Brooke Miller, Bayer, Caitlyn Canady, Harris and Cooper were all named to the All-PBC team last week. UNG's Tybee Denton won Pitcher of the Year and Georgia Blair, Grayson Perry, Mallory Parker, Kristen Davis and Katie Ward were also tabbed to the team.

The opening game will start at 3 p.m. on Friday at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium. Fans can tune into 88.5 FM WCUG Cougar Radio as CSU Hall of Famer and the Voice of the Cougars Scott Miller will have the call. The games will also be live streamed on the PBC Sports Network and live statistics can be found here.

Tickets are on sale through the PBC and can be purchased online. For more information on the tournament or to view the brackets, click here.