COLUMBUS, Ga. – The University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team fell 8-7 in 12 innings in its Peach Belt Conference opener at Columbus State (CSU) Friday evening.
The Cougars (8-5, 1-0 Peach Belt) used a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the 12th inning to escape with a win over the Nighthawks (9-6, 0-1 Peach Belt).
UNG got on the board first Friday after an error and a bases loaded walk allowed two runs to score in the first inning.
The Nighthawks held their 2-0 lead into the third inning until an RBI single from Cody Ferguson got CSU on the board.
The 2-1 score held until the sixth inning when redshirt junior first baseman
Phillip Ard collected his league-leading 28th and 29th RBI with a two-run single to left. Junior shortstop
Jace Bowen and junior center fielder
Andrews Opata scored on the play.
Opata had another sensational game Friday. His one-out single in the sixth set the table for Bowen and Ard to expand the lead. Opata finished the game going 4-for-5 with two walks and three runs scored. Friday marked Opata's team-best 10th multi-hit game and his third straight such performance.
CSU pulled within a run in the sixth inning with a pair of sacrifice flies to make it 4-3 UNG.
In the seventh, another two-run inning from the Cougars gave them their first lead of the game.
Ard tied the game in the eighth inning with a groundout that scored Opata once more for his third RBI of the day.
Ard has recorded multiple RBI in eight games this year which leads all Nighthawk hitters. He's accomplished that achievement in four straight games. The Cochran, Ga. native is in the midst of another big streak as Ard has reached base in all 15 games this season. He is hitless in only one of those games.
Ard's RBI groundout in the eighth tied the game at 5-5 and eventually forced extra innings as neither team scored in the ninth.
Junior right-handed pitcher
Matthew Heard put his team in a position to win with his superb pitching against a powerful Cougars offense. From the seventh inning all the way into the completion of the 10th, Heard retired nine straight CSU hitters.
The Nighthawks had an opportunity to go ahead on the scoreboard in the first extra inning as they loaded the bases with only one out in the top of the 10th. However, a pop out and a fly out ended the threat for the Cougars.
In the 11th inning, UNG did not need any baserunners to take the lead. Senior left fielder
Jorge Arispuro did that himself as he blasted his first home run of the season to center field. The solo shot put the Nighthawks in front 6-5.
The Cougars tied things up in the bottom of the inning after a lead-off double from Cole Eison was capitalized on with an RBI single from Cayden Evans.
Heard got out of the inning with the winning run on base as he struck out the last two batters.
In the 12th, redshirt freshman two-way player and reigning PBC Freshman of the Week
Nicholas Stinson lined a ball back to the pitcher. Stinson reached with an infield single as the ball glanced off the pitcher's shoulder and into right field.
The infield knock extended Stinson's team-leading hitting streak to seven straight games.
Stinson came around to score on a sac fly from junior second baseman
Brady Skipper to put UNG in front 7-6 once more.
In the bottom of the 12th, Heard and the Nighthawks were one out away from ending the game after the righty struck out Jackson Chizek for the second out of the frame.
However, the trying run was still on base as Andrew Rubin had reached on a one-out single the at bat prior. Rubin advanced to second on a single from Luke Miller. Eison then loaded the bases with a walk.
With Heard still on the mound and the bases loaded with two outs, UNG still held a 7-6 advantage. Heard put Ferguson on his heels as he got ahead 0-2 in the count to put CSU on the precipice of its last strike. However, on the 0-2 pitch Ferguson swung late and lifted a weak fly ball along the right-field line that fortunately dropped before a Nighthawk could catch it. The lucky break brought two runs across and ended the game with an 8-7 win for the Cougars.
The loss marks the sixth of the season for UNG, five of which have come by two runs or less. Three of those losses are by only one run.
The Nighthawks now look to exact revenge against CSU in the second game of the series tomorrow, Saturday, Mar. 1 at 2 p.m.
