DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team completed a series sweep of Claflin Sunday with a seven-inning, 11-1 win over the Panthers at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park in the series finale.
The Nighthawks (15-7, 5-1 Peach Belt) utilized the sweep of Claflin (5-11-1, 0-6 Peach Belt) to pick up their fourth straight victory and ninth win in the last 11 games.
UNG has now won each of its last four games thanks to double-digit runs from the offense in each game. The Nighthawks have scored 10 or more runs in nine games this year and are undefeated when doing so.
UNG posted four runs in the opening inning as redshirt junior first baseman
Phillip Ard and redshirt freshman
Nicholas Stinson each notched an RBI single in the first to put a pair of runs on the board.
Junior second baseman
Brady Skipper then walked with the bases loaded before senior outfielder
Edwin Bowman IV lined out on a sacrifice fly to bring in the fourth run of the inning.
The Panthers' lone run in the game came in the second inning thanks to an RBI single up the middle from Rashid Muhammad.
After Ard tallied his second RBI of the day with another run-scoring single in the fourth inning, the Nighthawks used the big bats to end the game via the mercy rule for the second consecutive day.
Later in the inning, senior left fielder
Jorge Arispuro smoked a three-run homer to put UNG ahead 8-1 in the game. The long bomb was Arispuro's second of the season as he is now up to 10 RBI and a .327 batting average in his 17 games of action this year.
In the next inning, the nation's leader in RBI and the conference's leader in home runs added to both of those totals with one swing. Ard's three-run towering shot to left field gave the Nighthawks an 11-1 lead which would be the eventual final score. Ard went 4-for-4 in total on Sunday with three runs scored and five RBI.
The power-swinging first baseman has already racked up eight homers and a startling 40 RBI this season. Last year, Ard was UNG's only all-conference selection as he was named to the PBC All-Conference Second Team. He has already matched his RBI total from last season (40) and his three homers shy of his all-conference worthy number from 2024.
The Nighthawks will now look to keep their winning ways going with a midweek, non-conference matchup against No. 24 Young Harris. UNG is looking for revenge after losing 8-1 to the Mountain Lions back on Feb. 18. First pitch from Bob Stein Stadium on Wednesday, March 12 is set for 3 p.m.
