4-18-18

DAHLONEGA – After a six-run seventh for No. 20 West Florida, the University of North Georgia baseball team responded with the game-winning run in the bottom of the inning to defeat UWF, 9-8, Tuesday night at Bob Stein Stadium.

Josh Profit got it started for the Nighthawk offense with a leadoff first pitch double. Chase Sudduth came behind him with a 5-hole blaze to put runners on the corners for Andres Perez, whose RBI single up the middle got UNG on the board, 1-0. Bill LeRoy tacked on a RBI infield single of his own to extend the lead over UWF, 2-0.

The Argonauts answered back in the third frame with a single from Jacob Silverstein, who scored on a sacrifice fly to right from Brandon Harmon to cut the lead, 5-1. North Georgia laced together three more runs before Harmon went yard again, this time with a solo shot in the sixth to make the score 8-2, prompting West Florida to make a comeback in the seventh.

After several pitching changes, the Nighthawks surrendered six runs off three hits in the seventh frame allowing the Argos to re-enter the game at an 8-8 tie. Issued walks and an infield RBI single from Harmon added another run to the board for UWF and loaded the bases for Matthew Jones, whose grand slam narrowed the Nighthawk lead to just one run. A solo shot for Matt Sullivan tied it up at 8-8 to end the inning.

A new ball game, senior Steven Tomlinson‘s eighth inning leadoff double sparked the UNG offense again. Jake Arnold‘s sacrifice fly to left scored Tomlinson from third to reclaim the lead and clinch the victory for the Nighthawks, 9-8.

NOTES
– Parker Morrison (3-1) earned the win on the rubber, while Jared Gonzalez (2-1) was given the loss.

– Tomlinson went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Profit went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, two RBI and two runs scored. Nick Clarno went 2-for-3 with two singles and one run scored.

– On Make-A-Wish Day, Chandler Holcomb threw out the first pitch after signing a one-day contract with North Georgia earlier in the day.

NEXT UP
North Georgia will take on the Argos in game two of the mid-week series tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Bob Stein Stadium.