DAHLONEGA - After falling behind, 5-0, the No. 13 University of North Georgia baseball team tied the game up in the seventh and again in the ninth but ultimately fell to No. 6 Tampa, 11-9, in 11 innings Friday night.

The Spartans scored five runs in the first two innings, but North Georgia brought the game back in the bottom of the second, starting with a William Mapes RBI groundout before back-to-back homers by Crews Taylor and Chase Sudduth made the score 5-4.

Tampa scratched a run across in the fourth and sixth innings, but the Nighthawks again fought back, scoring two in the sixth highlighted by a Nick Clarno RBI double. UNG took the lead in the seventh by scoring two more runs after loading the bases, but UT had an answer of their own. The Spartans had a RBI single in the eighth to tie the game and again in the ninth to take a 9-8 lead.

Taylor kept the game alive for UNG in the ninth on a RBI double that forced extra innings where Tampa got a pinch hit two run homer from Danny Maynard to take the 11-9 lead in the 11th.

NOTES
- Taylor led North Georgia at the plate, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, a run scored and two walks drawn.

- Sudduth, Jake Arnold and Clarno also each had two hits in the game.

NEXT UP
The series finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start tomorrow afternoon.