Week Preview: The University of North Georgia baseball team wraps up what ended up being a seven-game homestand with a midweek matchup with Southern Wesleyan Tuesday before a road trip to Augusta this weekend.
Probable Starters: Tuesday - TBA vs. Tanner Glass; Friday - Cade Heil vs. Will Cantrell; Saturday - Steven Bower vs. Hunter Norman; Sunday - Parker Morrison vs. John Micah Law. Probable starters are based upon the last completed series or the last midweek game for both teams.
Nighthawks on the Web: Nighthawk fans not able to make it to Bob Stein Stadium at Cottrel Park this week can follow along through streaming on YouTube and Facebook, local cable television (Windstream cable channels 78.12 and HD channel 890), live statistics on UNGAthletics.com and on all social media platforms. Links to all road games can be found on the baseball schedule page of UNGAthletics.com. Fans can also follow the action through Twitter by following the baseball team (@UNGBaseball).
Last Week: The Nighthawks took two of three from Georgia Southwestern, dropping the opener before claiming the last two games versus the Hurricanes
Scouting Southern Wesleyan: Southern Wesleyan is 6-14 on the year and 0-9 in Conference Carolinas action. Coming off getting swept by Belmont Abbey this past weekend, the Warriors are 3-1 in midweek games this season. Southern Wesleyan is led by Ty King Richards at the plate, hitting .313 with four doubles, 10 runs scored and seven RBI. Dawson Posick and Tanner Glass each have two homers on the year to lead SWU in the category. In total, the Warriors hit .242 as a team with 35 extra-base hits and 67 walks drawn compared to 167 strikeouts. Southern Wesleyan has a team 5.31 GPA with 169 strikeouts as a staff. Tuesday's projected starter, Tanner Glass, sports a 2-0 record with 15 batters fanned to just three walks. North Georgia leads the all-time series, 30-2, winning seven straight in the series. UNG has lost just once in Dahlonega in the series, going 19-1 with the only home loss coming in the first of a three-game set back in 2004.
Scouting Augusta: Augusta is 4-15 on the year and 2-10 in Peach Belt Conference play ahead of a Wednesday midweek matchup with Mars Hill. The three-game set with UNG will mark the end of a seven-game homestand for the Jaguars. The two league wins came as a one-run game against Lander and an 11-inning thriller against Flagler. Ben Markiewicz leads the AU offense, hitting .375 with five doubles and 11 RBI. The Jaguars have 36 extra base hits, 30 of which are doubles. Augusta's pitching staff has had its troubles through the opening 19 games of the year, coming into the week with an 8.24 ERA, giving up 175 runs to its opponents. North Georgia leads the all-time series, 30-10, and have won each of the last 10 matchups. The Nighthawks are 11-6 in Augusta, winning five of the last six.
Stats: Crews Taylor leads the nation in walks drawn with 24. He is also fifth nationally and tops in the PBC in walks drawn per game at 1.60. Crews Taylor leads the league and is sixth nationally in homers with seven. He also leads the conference in homers per game at 0.47. Bill LeRoy is the second hardest to strike out in the PBC at 20.7 at bats per strikeout. Cade Heil is third in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio and fourth in strikeouts. He is also third in victories and WHIP and fourth in walks allowed per nine innings. Steven Bower is second in the league in strikeouts, third in strikeouts per nine innings, third in wins and 10th in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Conway Freshman of the Week: Conway won his third Freshman of the Week this season Monday after hitting .385 with a home run and three RBI as the Nighthawks took two of three from Georgia Southwestern. The outfielder went 2-for-5 in the opener with a homer and three RBI, then went 2-for-4 in game two with a double. He finished with a hit in the finale and had a .692 slugging percentage on the week, scoring two runs.
