DAHLONEGA – For the 10th time this season, the University of North Georgia baseball team put up double digit runs leading to a sweep of Peach Belt Conference foe Augusta. The Nighthawks laced 10 hits en route to a 16-5, seven inning win Sunday at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park.
At 26-11 overall and 13-5 in PBC play, the Nighthawks sit in a tie for second place in the conference with Lander with nine conference games remaining in the season.
Despite only recording one more hit than the Jaguars, UNG had a pair of three-run home runs in the game propelling it to the win.
After a pair of intense wins in the first two games of the series, the Nighthawks fell behind early on in game three. Augusta's Parker Ingram, a transfer from UNG, connected on a solo home run in the second inning to give the Jaguars a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the frame, freshman third baseman Kyle Robitzsch reached on an infield single. A walk from sophomore second baseman Brady Skipper put two on with one out for Edwin Bowman IV. The sophomore right fielder gave the Nighthawks the lead with one powerful swing of the bat.
Bowman launched his second home run of the year to the opposite field as it snuck over the right field wall to give his team a 3-1 advantage.
UNG bombarded Augusta in the next inning with seven hits and seven runs to take a 10-1 lead into the fourth inning.
It started after freshman outfielder Noah Darden worked a one out walk. He would eventually score on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.
After two Jaguars pitching changes, a sacrifice fly from Skipper added another run. Then with two runners on again, Bowman tallied his fourth RBI of the game with a base hit to left field.
Junior left field Josh Sosa followed with an RBI single himself, then a hit batter with the bases loaded made it 8-1.
Batting for the second time in the inning, Darden roped a single to left to score sophomore center fielder Andrews Opata and junior catcher Bryson Stripling.
A big fourth inning followed for Augusta to make things interesting as the Jaguars added four runs on four hits to make it a 10-5 game.
However, UNG responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning thanks to another RBI base knock from Sosa and the second three-run homer of the game. This one came off the bat of his Stripling as he hit a towering shot to left field to mark his second long ball of the season.
As the game continued, the Nighthawks held Augusta at bay and did not allow another run in the contest. They added two decisive runs in the bottom of the sixth with a two run double from Darden.
Darden was perfect at the plate Sunday with a 3-for-3 outing while adding four RBIs and two walks.
Bowman and Sosa were the other standouts in the Nighthawk lineup as Bowman ended the day 2-for-4, bringing home runners on each of his hits with the three-run home run and his double. Sosa went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and three runs scored as well.
In the seventh, with the Jaguars needing two runs to avoid the run rule, sophomore UNG reliever Matthew Heard retired the side in order and book ended the inning with a pair of strikeouts. The right hander threw 3.1 innings in relief of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four to lead UNG to the win.
Having played eight consecutive games at home, the Nighthawks are now 20-4 at Bob Stein Stadium this year and will look to continue making the home fans happy with a pair of midweek games next week. UNG is one of just seven teams in NCAA Div. II with 20 or more wins at home this season.
On Tuesday, Apr. 9, UNG welcomes Anderson to Dahlonega for the second time this season. That game is set to start under the lights at 7 p.m. and will precede a make-up contest with Emmanuel the next day, set for 5 p.m. from Bob Stein Stadium.
