SALISBURY, N.C. – The No. 30 University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team earned its first win against a top-5 team since 2022 when it took down No. 4 Catawba 5-4 in Salisbury, N.C. Wednesday night.
The win not only marks UNG's (21-9, 10-2 Peach Belt) first win against a top-5 team in three years, it's also the program;s 12th win against a top-10 opponent in the last decade and it's first road win over a top-5 squad since the 2017 NCAA Division-II Southeast Regional Tournament when it took down No. 1 Mount Olive en route to advancing to the College World Series.
Wednesday's ranked showdown was a relatively low-scoring affair considering that UNG and Catawba (23-9, 14-4 South Atlantic) ranked first and fourth in run scoring in their respective conferences.
The Nighthawks came into the game averaging 8.8 runs per contest, but took down the Indians with just five runs thanks to timely hitting and a clutch performance from the bullpen.
In a midweek matchup, it was no surprise to see head coach
Tom Cantrell and his coaching staff toss a flurry of typical "relief" pitchers into the mix against Catawba. However, the Nighthawk bullpen has averaged 5.6 earned runs per game this season and a potent Indians offense was ready to do damage.
Instead, senior left-hander
Daniel Courtney opened the game with a scoreless first inning as he stranded the runners of his two allowed hits.
Then, redshirt sophomore righty
Avery Brown struck out a pair of batters to keep Catawba off the board in the second inning.
In the top of the third, the Nighthawks broke through Indians starter Carson Edmiston with back-to-back singles to open the inning. Edmiston was pulled from the game but it was too late. Freshman infielder
Jake Prince roped a double to left center to score the first run of the game.
Redshirt freshman
Nicholas Stinson then grounded into a double play but junior center fielder
Andrews Opata scored on the at bat to make it 2-0.
Reigning PBC and National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Southeast Region Player of the Week
Kyle Robitzsch then singled to left center to bring Prince home.
With a 3-0 lead, the Nighthawk bullpen held strong in the fourth inning as redshirt sophomore pitcher
Nathan Alexander evaded a lead-off single and an error with an inning-ending double play to keep Catawba scoreless.
Junior right-handed reliever
Connor Harris was given the ball in the fourth and he worked around a two-on, one-out jam to also shut down the Indians.
Catawba finally put a crooked number up in the fifth inning with a two-run single from Cole Hales.
UNG maintained its one-run lead though as junior righties
Ryan Taylor twirled a scoreless sixth and
Matthew Heard retired the Indians in order in the seventh.
The eighth inning would prove pivotal as the Nighthawks threatened to pad their lead after consecutive walks and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position with just one out.
Senior second baseman
Brady Skipper then made a productive out as both runners advanced and senior third baseman
Riley Frost scored on Skipper's sacrifice fly to right field.
Senior outfielder
Jorge Arispuro then raced home after a passed ball let in UNG's ultimate winning run.
Heard continued to pitch in the eighth inning and despite giving up a two-out double to Hunter Atkins, he made up for it by striking out Sean Shelly to end the threat.
In the ninth, Catawba made things interesting with a two-run homer off the bat of Dylan Driver to make it 5-4. However, graduate relief pitcher
Zach Green did not flinch. The electric righty shut the door with a backwards "K" of Nathan Chrismon to end the game and seal the victory.
Without a single "true starter" entering the game, the Nighthawk bullpen teamed up to put together one of the best wins in recent history for UNG.
At 21-9 and with six wins in their last seven games, the Nighthawks now look ahead to a weekend series within the PBC. They will head to Augusta, Ga. to take on the Jaguars beginning on Friday, March 28 with a 6 p.m. start time.
