DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team rallied behind an explosive day at the plate for a 10-2 dominating victory over Georgia College (GCSU) at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park Friday.
UNG totaled four home runs and seven extra base hits in its dismantling of the Bobcats on Friday. While both schools are Peach Belt Conference members, this weekend's series is being played as a non-conference series as none of the games will count towards each team's conference record.
The Nighthawks moved to 7-5 this year with the win while GCSU fell to 5-7 after having dropped three straight games.
For a UNG team that has high expectations internally, this was a "circle the date" on your calendar series. GCSU won the PBC Tournament last season and made an appearance in the NCAA Southeast Super Regional. The Bobcats entered the year ranked as the preseason No. 13 team in the country by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).
Furthermore, despite GCSU's 5-6 record entering Friday, three of its six losses came on the road to No. 1 Tampa, the reigning national champions.
Friday was billed as a battle between two aces on the mound as graduate left-hander
Pierce Williams started the game for the Nighthawks. On the other side, the Bobcats trotted out National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-American John Luke Glanton and his 1.50 earned run average.
Both pitchers held the opposition scoreless in the first two innings and worked out of multiple jams to keep the game close.
Then in the third inning the Nighthawks tagged Glanton for four runs behind two big home runs.
Redshirt junior first baseman
Phillip Ard belted his fourth big fly of the year over the center field wall to make it 2-0 to open the scoring.
Two batters later, redshirt freshman
Nicholas Stinson labeled the first home run of his collegiate career to right field. Four batters into the bottom of the third inning, UNG took a 4-0 lead.
In the fourth inning Ard came up to bat again with junior center fielder
Andrews Opata on base after. In a 3-2 count against Glanton Ard tattooed a ball down the left field line. The approximately 418-foot home run broke the game open at 6-0. The homer marked Ard's second of the game and fifth of the season. He now leads the PBC in that category this season.
Ard finished his day going 3-for-5 with two homers, four RBI and two runs scored. His 23 RBI also lead the league so far this year.
In the fifth inning, the Bobcats got their first run of the game on a two-out single from left fielder Carson Phillips. It would be the only run against Williams who finished the day with 5.0 innings pitched, five hits and one run allowed.
In the home half of the inning, UNG added another run after a walk to freshman second baseman
Jake Prince was capitalized on by senior third baseman
Riley Frost with a double to right center.
Frost's double signaled the end of the day for Glanton. The Nighthawks put up seven earned runs and 10 hits in 4.2 innings against the preseason all-American.
Junior shortstop
Jace Bowen joined in on the fun in the sixth with an RBI single to bring in Opata once more. Bowen had a massive day at the plate going 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.
Later in the inning, Stinson solidified the best game of his young career. After launching the first home run of his college career in the fourth inning, the Kennesaw, Ga. native doubled down in the sixth. He smoked a ball to right field that traveled almost 400-feet to make it 10-1 Nighthawks in the game.
UNG now looks to win the non-conference series tomorrow in the second game of the three-game set. First pitch from Bob Stein Stadium takes place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22.
