DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia baseball team got revenge on No. 10 Lee with an offensive onslaught Tuesday evening at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park.
After losing at Lee 15-5 on Mar. 19, the Nighthawks made a statement against the Flames and tenth ranked team in the country on Tuesday.
With 12 hits, UNG scored a whopping 21 runs against Lee in a dominant win. 21 runs are the most the Nighthawks have scored in a game this season and the most the program has scored since a 27-0 win against Claflin on Apr. 30, 2022
From the very first inning, UNG got on the board first and never looked back.
A single from junior shortstop Riley Frost plated freshman outfielder Noah Darden to get the scoring started.
A few at bats later, freshman third baseman Kyle Robitzsch roped a double to left field to score Frost and make it 3-0.
Towards the end of the inning, junior catcher Bryson Stripling added to the bunch with a two run single to center scoring sophomore outfielder Josh Sosa and Robitzsch.
Despite scoring the most runs in a single game in two years, the Nighthawks only had one long ball on the night. It came in the second inning from redshirt sophomore first baseman Phillip Ard.
A long fly ball over the left field wall represented Ard's team best 10th homer of the season. It was his fourth long ball in the last six games and it gave UNG an early 7-0 lead.
With single runs again in the third and fourth innings, the Nighthawks led 9-0 before Lee finally got on the board in the fifth. UNG responded by putting up a four spot on the board in the sixth.
Sophomore center fielder Andrews Opata capped off the frame with a two run single back up the middle, bringing home Sosa and Robitzsch.
With the game practically decided by the time the eighth inning rolled around and UNG up 13-2, the Nighthawk offense made a statement by scoring eight runs in their last at bat. Ard and Robitzsch each had a pair of RBI doubles to headline the inning. The pair were stellar in leading the charge for UNG at the plate.
Ard went 3-for-4 at the dish with three runs scored, two RBI, a home run and two walks. Robitzsch was perfect at the plate, recording a career high four hits in four at bats, three of which were doubles. He added a pair of RBI and a pair of walks as well.
Sophomore starter Jaret Bales was very strong through 4.2 innings in his first start this season for the Nighthawks. Bales, a right hander out of Gainesville, Ga., only allowed three hits and an unearned run while striking out a trio of Flames hitters in the game.
In what was its second-to-last non-conference matchup of the season, UNG will return to Peach Belt Conference play this weekend as the team heads to Aiken, S.C. for a trio of games against USC Aiken. Game one in the series begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, Apr. 19.
