DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia baseball team collected its fifth consecutive win in a low scoring affair against Anderson University Tuesday. In the standalone non-conference game, the Nighthawks used single runs in the third, fifth and eighth innings to pull out the 3-1 win at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park.
It was a three-man team effort on the mound for head coach Tom Cantrell's team that stifled the Trojan offense.
Between sophomore starter Matthew Heard, redshirt junior lefty Zach Green and sophomore right-hander Jaret Bales, UNG allowed one run on just two hits the entire game.
In four innings, Heard allowed the lone run on just one hit with a walk while striking out a pair of Anderson hitters. Green and Bales combined to score less in the final five innings while striking out four wishful thinkers.
After a dominating series in which the Nighthawks outscored Claflin 49-3 the previous weekend, when the Trojans took a 1-0 lead off a single from junior Luke Poole, it marked the first time UNG had trailed in a game in 10 days.
The lead did not last long as redshirt sophomore first baseman Phillip Ard tied the game with a ground out in the third.
The Nighthawks pulled in front in the fifth when sophomore infielder Luke Starling singled deep into right center to score sophomore Edwin Bowman IV.
Holding the lead, the UNG offense then sat back and watched the pitching duo of Green and Bales retire 12 of the next 13 batters as the game transitioned into the eighth inning.
It was in the bottom half of the frame that junior outfielder Jorge Arispuro would score an insurance run. After reaching on a walk, Arispuro was batted around the bases before scoring from third on a passed ball.
In the ninth, Bales earned his first save of the year with a 1-2-3 inning to bring the game to a close.
The rest is short for the Nighthawks as they are on the road tomorrow, Mar. 13 against West Georgia in another non-conference matchup. First pitch from Carrollton, Ga. is scheduled for 5 p.m.
