DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The No. 27 University of North Georgia baseball team completed the season-opening series sweep of Carson-Newman with a decisive 17-0 win on Sunday at Bob Stein Stadium. It is the second straight season that UNG has picked up a series sweep C-N as the Nighthawks extend their winning streak to eight games over the Eagles.

The Nighthawks (3-0) opened the scoring in the bottom of the second as they loaded the bases on a single, hit batter and a walk with no one out. Devin Gearhart hit a slow roller to third base in which the Eagles could not get an out and left everyone safe to open the scoring. Back-to-back ground outs allowed two more UNG players to cross the plate and make it a 3-0 game after two frames.

Michael Bell started the bottom of the third inning whacking a 0-2 offering over the left-field fence for a home run to push the home club's advantage to 4-0. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for North Georgia in the bottom of the sixth inning before Michael Gouge belted a base hit back up the middle to plate a pair of teammates. The next batter, Trevor Sams, clobbered a 2-0 offering well over the fence in left-center field for a three-run blast to push the lead to 9-0.

Following a ground out to start the last of the seventh, Steven Tomlinson blasted a solo home run to left field. Andres Perez tripled to the wall in right field on the next pitch and Gearhart drew a walk. Connor Hoover doubled to the gap in the left center and came in to score on a wild pitch later in the frame making it 13-0 UNG.

Joshua Profit pinch hit to begin the bottom of the eighth stanza on a ball that reached the center field fence. A ground out to first base allowed Profit to cross the dish. A base hit and an error put two on base for Hoover as the shortstop sliced a home run just inside of the fair pole down the left-field line.

Left-hander Daniel McCrary (1-0) tossed six and a third scoreless innings striking out seven while allowing five hits and two walks.

NOTES
- Hoover led the Nighthawk offense with a 3-5 day from the plate that included six RBI and three runs scored.  His six RBI was just one short of matching the program's single game record.

- North Georgia belted four homeruns and three triples on the day. The three triples ties the program's single game record.

- Sams was a blistering 7-10 from the plate over the series with two doubles, a triple and a homerun while batting in eight.

- North Georgia capped an impressive weekend from the plate with 13 runs in the team's final three innings.

NEXT
North Georgia plays its lone road game in the first 14 games of the season on Wednesday, Feb. 8 with a road trip to Central, S.C. to take on Southern Wesleyan.  First pitch is schedule for 4:00 p.m.