Week Preview: The No. 8 University of North Georgia baseball team returns home for a midweek matchup against Auburn Montgomery before hitting the road for another PBC series at UNC Pembroke.
Probable Starters (Based on previous outings): Wednesday - Josh Flowers vs. Daniel McCrary; Friday - Steven Bower vs. Nile Ball; Saturday - Derrick Pickvet vs. Landen Smith; Sunday - Cade Heil vs. Tanner Routh.
Rankings: North Georgia is No. 8 in the latest Collegiate Baseball Poll released Monday, up one spot from last week. Other teams in the Southeast Region that are ranked are No. 1 North Greenville, No. 3 Catawba, No. 15 Newberry, No. 25 Mount Olive and No. 28 Lincoln Memorial. The Nighthawks also came in at No. 25 in the NCBWA poll Tuesday, marking the first time this season that UNG has been in the top 25 in that poll.
Nighthawks on the Web: Available links can be found above and on the baseball schedule page and above. Fans can also follow the action through Twitter by following the baseball team (@UNGBaseball).
Last Week: North Georgia went 2-1 last weekend against Young Harris, winning the first and last matchups against the Mountain Lions.
Scouting Auburn Montgomery: AUM is 19-18 in 2019 and have won three of their last four, including taking two of three from Shorter in Gulf South play. North Georgia is 17-9 against the Warhawks all-time and have won the last three matchups by a combined score of 29-3.
Scouting UNC Pembroke: UNCP is 18-19 on the year headed into midweek matchups against North Greenville and Queens this week. The Braves are 8-13 in league play, currently sitting in ninth place, two games back of the final spot in the league tournament. UNG trails in the all-time series, 22- 19, but won the regular season series a year ago.
PBC Stats and Standings: Chase Sudduth has the sixth best batting average in the league, hitting .367 on the season. Crews Taylor has reached base in 34 straight games this year. Conner Corbitt is tied for second in the league in homers with 10. Parker Morrison is tied for the league lead in ERA at 2.02, eighth in the conference in strikeouts with 60 and is second in the PBC in saves with seven. The UNG pitching staff has the lowest ERA at 3.67 while giving up the least number of walks this season and the fewest runs. North Georgia currently has one game lead on Flagler heading into the weekend. The conference race is very tight with eighth place being just four games out of first
