By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
The USCB softball team is in the dance, and at the Peach Belt Conference Softball Tournament, anything can happen.
The Sand Sharks dropped two of three at USC Aiken over the weekend, losing two one-run games on Sunday to fall to the No. 6 seed, but that puts them on the opposite side of the bracket from host and top-seeded North Georgia. The Night Hawks ended USCB’s season with a 1-0 win in the opening round of last year’s tournament.
USCB (30-21) opens the tournament Friday against No. 3 seed Georgia College, which won two of three against the Sand Sharks on March 21 in Milledgeville. If they win the opener, the Sand Sharks would face either No. 7 seed Augusta or No. 2 seed Columbus State in the semifinals Saturday. USCB took two of three from Augusta and dropped two of three to Columbus State during the regular season.
The best news for the Sand Sharks is ace Madison Murphy has earned a win against every conference opponent except Lander this season, and the Bearcats would have to get through North Georgia for the Sand Sharks to face them in the finals.
Track stars claim gold in Daytona
USCB’s men’s track and field team claimed four individual titles and placed sixth at the Peach Belt Conference Championships over the weekend, while the Sand Shark women placed fifth despite just one individual champion.
Samuel Mitchell was the biggest star for USCB, earning Outstanding Field Athlete honors in addition to his spot on the All-Sportsmanship Team. Mitchell won the long jump with a mark of 7.49 meters and claimed gold in the triple jump with a leap of 14.92 meters. He also placed fifth in the 100 meters.
Jakori Herring won a conference title in the 400-meter hurdles in 53.79 seconds, and Aiden O’Neil won the pole vault with a mark of 4.72 meters.
Grace Wolf was the only conference champion for the Sand Shark women, edging teammate De’Andra Brown for gold in the heptathlon, but USCB’s women had six podium finishes, including a pair of runner-up showings from Victoria Colon in the women’s hammer and shot put.
Sand Shark golfers qualify for nationals
USCB women’s golfer McLain Neal opened with a 4-over-par 76 at the NCAA Division II South Regional at Cleveland (Tenn.) Country Club, putting Neal in a tie for 23rd after the first round.
The final two rounds were slated for Tuesday due to bad weather in the forecast for Wednesday.
The USCB men’s golf team tees it up Thursday through Saturday at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Valdosta (Ga.) Country Club.