ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The University of North Georgia baseball team dominated Claflin in a 17-0 win Sunday, finalizing a three-game Peach Belt Conference sweep of the Cougars. The Nighthawks totaled 49 runs while only allowing three in three games during their conference road trip this weekend.
On Sunday, left-handed pitcher Daniel Courtney threw six complete innings en route to the shutout. In his fourth start of the season, Courtney allowed just six hits while striking out a career-high nine batters. He did not allow a walk in the 23 batters faced.
Entering this season, Courtney had recorded 16 appearances in which he did not allow a walk, yet he never recorded more than three strikeouts in any of them. This year, he's allowed zero walks in three outings and has recorded five or more strikeouts in all of them.
His dominance on the hill was met with equal dominance at the plate from the UNG offense.
The Nighthawks opened the game with six runs in the first inning. From there they added six more runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and four in the seventh on their way to the victory.
Junior outfielder Jorge Arispuro had a big day recording a career high six RBIs while going 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run on the day.
Freshman outfielder Noah Darden contributed a pair of RBIs while going 3-for-5 with a double and four runs scored. The day marks Darden's fourth consecutive multi-hit game and eighth this season. Overall, Darden is currently on a seven game hitting streak.
Sophomore infielder Brady Skipper joined Arispuro in the long ball column with his third home run of the year, a two-run shot in the first inning. Skipper went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored in total on the day.
Next the Nighthawks will return home on Tuesday, Mar. 12 for a single, non-conference game against Anderson. First pitch against the Trojans is set for 5 p.m.
