DAHLONEGA - A seven-run seventh inning, powered by a grand slam from
Bill LeRoy, gave the University of North Georgia baseball team an 11-8 win over Georgia College Saturday afternoon at Bob Stein Stadium.
The Bobcats scored the first three runs of the game, putting up a single run and two in the second to take an early 3-0 lead.
Jake Arnold put the Nighthawks on the board in the bottom of the second on a RBI double down the left field line, scoring
Andres Perez. Arnold brought home the game's second run in the fourth inning, scoring Perez again to bring UNG to within one.
After two runs in the fifth for GC, North Georgia again cut into the lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth on a
Cade Heil sacrifice fly, bringing home Perez for a 5-3 game. The Bobcats scored again in the seventh before North Georgia's bats woke up.
Nick Clarno led things off with a solo bomb on the second pitch of the inning. After two walks and a single, LeRoy hit a grand slam to straight-away center, giving the Nighthawks their first lead of the series.
William Mapes got in on the scoring with a double down the line in left, increasing the UNG lead to 9-6 before scoring himself on a Bobcat error for the seventh run of the inning.
The Bobcats didn't go quietly as they put up two runs in the eighth, but a crucial insurance run on an Arnold sacrifice fly gave North Georgia the breathing room needed to win the Peach Belt game.
NOTES
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Jack Fleming (3-0) earned the win in relief while
Parker Morrison earned his third save of the season. Georgia College's Kyle King (0-2) was tabbed with the loss after facing five Nighthawks and not recording an out.
- Perez went 3-for-3 at the plate, hitting a double and two singles and drawing two walks. He scored four of the Nighthawks' 11 runs. LeRoy and Arnold finished 3-for-4, earning seven RBI combined.
- The seven-run inning was the first inning with seven or more runs scored by UNG since the Southeast Regional last season against then-No. 1 Mount Olive when the Nighthawks put seven runs on the board in the top of the first inning.
- Tonight's win breaks a six-game losing skid against the Bobcats, dating back to the 2015 Southeast Regional. The Nighthawks won that game, 10-3, at Catawba.
NEXT UP
The rubber game between these two sides will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. inside Bob Stein Stadium.