DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia baseball team came out on top of both games of a non-conference doubleheader on Friday winning 12-2 and 8-4 over Salem at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park as part of Alumni Weekend celebrating 25 years of North Georgia baseball.
Game 1: North Georgia 12, Salem 2
North Georgia received contributions from every part of their lineup, as all nine starters reached base safely, helping the Nighthawks put 12 runs on the board.
Junior
Dylan Noce (2-0) got the win for North Georgia as the
right-hander went seven innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on six hits, allowing two walks and striking out five. Sophomore
Matthew Heard also pitched well, going two shutout innings while allowing two hits, walking none and striking out one.
Junior
Riley Frost led the way offensively for the Nighthawks, going 1-for-4 in the ballgame with a home run, a walk and two RBI. Sophomore
Phillip Ard provided a standout performance at the plate as well, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Junior
Bryson Stripling also contributed, going 2-for-5 for North Georgia with a home run and an RBI.
Trailing 1-0, the Nighthawks first put runs on the board in the first inning. North Georgia managed to push across two runs in the inning.
The Tigers failed to push any runs across before the Nighthawks offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. North Georgia picked up a run on
Ard's leadoff home run off of
Jaryd Lund, which brought the score to 3-1 in favor of the Nighthawks.
Salem narrowed North Georgia's lead to 3-2 before the Nighthawks stretched the advantage to 9-2 in the third inning. The Nighthawks hit two home runs in the inning on the way to scoring six runs to put the game out of reach.
Game 2: North Georgia 8, Salem 4
Junior
Riley Frost and sophomore
Andrews Opata each collected three hits to help power the North Georgia Nighthawks over the Salem (WV) Tigers 8-4 in the second game.
Senior
Wes Lott (2-0) started on the mound and picked up the win for North Georgia (4-1). The right-hander went 6.2 innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned, on five hits, allowing no walks and striking out four. Junior
Zach Green also made an impact on the mound for the Nighthawks, throwing 2.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits, with no walks and three strikeouts.
In addition to his three hits, Opata had a double to lead the Nighthawks. Frost added a double, a walk and three RBI to his three-hit performance as well. Junior
Jorge Arispuro also helped out for North Georgia, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding a home run and three RBI.
The Nighthawks got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Opata came across to score the lone run of the inning for North Georgia and get them on the board.
The Tigers failed to push any runs across before the Nighthawks offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. The North Georgia offense exploded for four runs, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Arispuro, which brought the Nighthawks lead to 5-0.
Salem narrowed North Georgia's lead to 5-3 before the Nighthawks stretched the advantage to 6-3 in the fourth inning. Scoring once on an RBI single off the bat of Frost.
The Tigers fought back, closing the gap to 6-4 until North Georgia added some insurance in the eighth. The Nighthawks scored twice, with one run coming across on sophomore
Brady Skipper's 1-out single, bringing the score to 8-4 in favor of North Georgia.
The two teams wrap up the three-game non-conference series tomorrow (Feb. 10) at 12:00 p.m.
