DAHLONEGA — Despite an Argonaut homer in the ninth to make it a one-run contest, pitching from Jack Fleming shut the No. 20 West Florida offense down for the University of North Georgia baseball team in a 3-2 defeat, earning the mid-week series sweep Wednesday afternoon at Bob Stein Stadium
 
The UNG and UWF defenses were solid in the contest, allowing no runs until the bottom of the fourth frame when North Georgia bats put the first dent in the scoreboard. After a walk issued to Chase Sudduth and a single up the middle from Andres Perez, Bill LeRoy stroked a grounder to third to score Sudduth and put UNG on the board first, 1-0. Steven Tomlinson kept the rally going with a RBI single to right, scoring Perez and extending the Nighthawk lead to 2-0.
 
West Florida remained silent at the plate until the top of the seventh with a Nick Kerkmann solo shot over right to cut the North Georgia lead in half, 2-1. But the Nighthawks were quick to get the run back in the eighth. A walk issued to Perez followed by Conner Corbitt boarding via hit by pitch, LeRoy delivered again with a RBI single ripped to center, securing the insurance run and a 3-1 lead for the Nighthawks.

A two-out homer by Matthew Jones to left in the top of the ninth kept the Argos in the game, but Fleming forced a lazy fly to right on the next batter to secure the win.
 
NOTES
- Key hitters in today's game were LeRoy who went 2-for-4 with two singles and two RBI, and Tomlinson who went 1-for-3 with a single and a RBI.
 
- Dallas Deavers (2-1) was awarded the win in the circle, while Kirk Maddox (3-5) was tabbed with the loss. Fleming earned the save in today's game, his first of the year.
 
- The Nighthawks have now won five straight against the Argos, dating back to the 2015 season. UNG leads the all-time series, 14-11.
 
NEXT UP
UNG will stay out of conference this weekend for a three-game series against Winston-Salem State. First pitch is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at The Steiner.