GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas  – The third-ranked University of North Georgia baseball team saw its banner 2017 year come to an end with a 4-0 loss to No. 1 Delta State on Monday in an elimination game at the 2017 NCAA Division II Championship at The Ballpark at Grand Prairie.

All of the game's four runs were scored in the top of the fourth when the Statesmen paired three hits with a Nighthawk fielding error to plate four runs.

Delta State's Tre Hobbs tossed a complete game three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts.
 
North Georgia (46-12) put two runners on base to begin the bottom of the fourth only to see Hobbs strikeout the next three hitters to end the threat.

The Nighthawks recorded their first hit and eventually put runners at first and third with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Hobbs would snag a sharp hit ground ball to turn a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Dylan Peppers (8-4) went 7.1 strong innings, giving up four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in the loss for UNG. Fellow senior Blake Gaubert added an inning and two-thirds of hitless relief for the Nighthawks. 

Bill Leroy, Michael Gouge and Andres Perez tallied the Nighthawks' three singles.

NOTES

- The NCAA Championship appearance was the first-ever for the North Georgia baseball program.

- The 2017 season set a new standard for UNG baseball with the program's second conference championship in the last three seasons, first-ever No. 1 national ranking, most wins in the NCAA-era (46) and the school's first-ever regional title.

- The UNG senior class leaves a legacy of 138 wins over four years marking the second most for a class in the NCAA era.