DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia baseball team ended the regular season on the highest of high notes thanks to a walk off grand slam from junior third baseman Riley Frost. His two-out blast in the ninth inning was something from a movie script, giving the Nighthawks an 11-9 win in the final game at Bob Stein Stadium this season.
Frost's four RBIs on the walk off bomb added to his career-high six in total on the day. He bookended the scoring for UNG after starting the day with a two-run single in the first inning to put the Nighthawks on the board first 2-0.
After a 5-4-3 double play in the third brought home sophomore center fielder Andrews Opata, sophomore second baseman Brady Skipper added to the lead with his second home run in as many days. The solo shot, Skipper's seventh of the year, made it 4-0 UNG after three innings.
Then it was junior outfielder Josh Sosa who joined in on the long-ball party. He belted a two-run blast in the fourth to give the Nighthawks a 6-0 advantage.
Sosa has seen increased playing time since his summer ball teammate and Nighthawk junior outfielder Jorge Arispuro went down with an injury back in early April. Since Arispuro's departure on Apr. 2, Sosa is hitting .300 in 19 games with five home runs, 22 RBI and a .944 on base plus slugging percentage (OPS).
The Bobcats would not go quietly in the series finale, however. With four runs in the fifth and sixth innings, highlighted by a grand slam from shortstop Gabriel Wuerth to make it 8-6 with GCSU in front.
The Bobcats added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI single from center fielder Cam McNearney.
Eyeing a series sweep and ending the regular season with a home loss, the Nighthawks needed three runs in the ninth to avoid such fate.
Junior catcher Bryson Stripling smoked a ball in the lead off at bat but it landed in the glove of right fielder Brandon Bellflower for the first out.
Opata then reached on a single to bring the tying run to the plate freshman outfielder Noah Darden. Yet Darden flew out to left field, forcing UNG to face its final out of the regular season.
Redshirt sophomore Phillip Ard then walked to put the tying run on base. Skipper followed with another walk to bring up Frost.
Frost entered Sunday's contest with one home run to his credit this season. It came back on Feb. 9 against Salem as he had gone 169 at bats without another round tripper. In an 0-1 count with the game on the line, none of that mattered any longer.
As Frost swung, the ball jumped off his bat on a collision course with the grass hill that sits just beyond the outfield at Bob Stein Stadium. As he watched it fly, his teammates barreled out of the dugout as they knew the baseball's fate. It was gone.
Frost's bomb capped off a 32-17 regular season for the Nighthawks. It served as UNG's fourth walk off in the season and second walk off homer.
With the win, the Nighthawks end the regular season in sixth place in the PBC. The conference office is scheduled to unveil the 2024 PBC Baseball Tournament bracket, seeding, locations and game times on Monday.
