DAHLONEGA – The No. 23 University of North Georgia baseball team extended its win streak to nine consecutive games with a 6-2 Peach Belt Conference win over USC Beaufort Sunday afternoon. The final of three games from Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park saw a consistent scoring attack lead to the four-run victory for the Nighthawks.
Sophomore Edwin Bowman IV got the scoring started in the first inning with a two-run single, scoring junior infielder Riley Frost and freshman outfielder Noah Darden.
Bowman had a strong series against the Sand Sharks, going 5-for-11 (.454) with five RBIs and one home run.
UNG added another run from a sacrifice fly in the second, before putting a pair of runs on the board again in the third.
Junior outfielder Jorge Arispuro tallied one of his two hits on the day as he whacked a ball back up the middle to score sophomore infielder Luke Starling.
Arispuro had at least one hit in all three games against USCB and is currently on a nine-game hitting streak overall.
In the next at bat, sophomore infielder Brady Skipper roped a double to left field as Starling scored from second base to make it 5-0 Nighthawks.
In the fourth, UNG got its sixth and final run thanks to the first career home run for Darden.
As the ball leapt off Darden's barrel, it looked like another one of his signature doubles. He's pounded eight of them this year, but was still searching for his first bomb. Instead of his ninth double, he etched a "1" in the home run column as the ball rode over the left field wall.
Darden has been sensational for head coach Tom Cantrell's team this season. The freshman has already twice been named as the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Week, as he currently leads the nationally ranked Nighthawks in batting average at .423. Darden has already recorded 10 multi-hit games in his career and is currently on a 12 game hitting streak. In the 19 games that Darden has taken the field for UNG, he's had at least one hit in 18 of them.
Cantrell only needed two pitchers to tow the slab Sunday as junior starter Daniel Courtney successfully navigated six scoreless innings. The lefty only allowed five hits and struck out a pair of Sand Shark hitters in his third victory of the season.
Senior right-hander Jacob Lassiat then came on in the seventh to close things out.
The Alpharetta, Ga. native earned his second save of the season after pitching the seventh, eighth and ninth innings without surrendering the Nighthawk lead despite giving up a pair of two-out runs in the top of the ninth.
Next on the docket for UNG are a pair of non-conference road games against Lee and Catawba.
The Nighthawks head to Cleveland, Tenn. first for a Tuesday, Mar. 19 matinee against the Flames. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
