DAHLONEGA - The University of North Georgia baseball team dropped the series opener to Claflin Friday night, 6-3.
The Panthers jumped out of the gates first, plating a run in the top of the second on a double down the line in left field. They doubled their lead in the top of the third when Claflin scored on a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead. After Claflin hit a solo homer in the top of the fifth to further stretch the lead, the Nighthawks bats woke up as
Connor Frost singled to plate
Josh Sosa from second and cut into the lead, 3-1.
North Georgia scored again later in the bottom of the fifth off a
Mark Tucker RBI groundout, trimming the lead even further, but the Panthers would score three unearned runs off a dropped fly ball in the sixth that would have ended the inning to take a 6-2 lead. UNG tried to battle back, getting a solo homer from
Crews Taylor to reach the 6-3 final, but couldn't find the timely hit to plate more as Claflin won their first league game of the season.
NOTES
- North Georgia's six hits came from six different players. Nine Nighthawks were left stranded.
- Claflin's Kyle Hawkins (2-9) got the win, going the distance, striking out three along the way in his 165 pitch outing.
- Only two of CU's six runs were earned as North Georgia committed three errors in the field.
NEXT UP
The two teams wrap up the regular season tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Senior Day festivities for North Georgia will begin at 12:35.
