MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The No. 6 University of North Georgia baseball team used a three-run seventh inning to break away from No. 15 USC Aiken, 6-2, in second round action of the 2017 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Friday evening at Mount Olive's Scarborough Field.

North Georgia (44-10) opened the scoring in the top of the third when Steven Tomlinson led off with a single and was advanced over on a sacrifice bunt by Kal Dempsey. A pair of wild pitches would bring him around to score.

USCA (40-14) leveled the score in the bottom half with a RBI single.  The Pacers would take at 2-1 lead two innings later on a RBI double.

In the seventh, North Georgia used three walks and a Pacer fielding error to plate three runs.  The rally was capped by a two RBI single by Bill Leroy.

An inning later, a RBI single by Andres Perez and a bases-loaded walk would give the Nighthawks two additional insurance runs.

Gabe Moore (3-0) earned the win for North Georgia with three and a third innings of relief work that included a single hit against five strikeouts.  Daniel McCrary posted a solid start on the hill for the Nighthawks, allowing just two runs on six hits.

Tomlinson was the lone Nighthawk with multiple hits as he was 2-of-5 with two runs scored.  Leroy added his ninth multiple-RBI game of the year.

NOTES
 
- Both teams finished with seven hits on the night, but UNG was aided by a pair of Pacer errors and seven walks.

- Michael Gouge and Bill Leroy extended their reached base streak to 35 and 31 games respectively.

- Moore's five strikeouts are a new season-high for the junior right-hander. 

NEXT
 
- The second-seeded Nighthawks advance to face top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Mount Olive tomorrow (May 20) at 5:00 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start, but the entire day's schedule was moved up due to projected rain.