(DAHLONEGA) – The University of North Georgia baseball team rolled to a 5-1 Peach Belt Conference win over No. 15 Georgia Southwestern for the second day in a row Friday afternoon. The Nighthawks’ limited the Hurricanes to their lowest run output of the season with just one run allowed at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park.
Redshirt sophomore first baseman Phillip Ard was a difference maker in the game for the second night in a row as he belted his team-leading sixth home run of the season.
It took a few innings for the offense to get going, as the two teams had just one hit combined through the first three innings.
GSW got on the board first in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly from redshirt junior third baseman George Davis.
However, the Nighthawks responded with two runs in the home half of the frame thanks to a two-run home run from junior outfielder Jorge Arispuro. The long ball was his fifth of the year which put him in a tie for the team lead, but only for so long.
In the fifth, Ard launched his sixth homer of the season, a two-run bomb that aided a three run fifth inning to make it 5-1.
With the offense clicking, it was up to the UNG pitching staff to keep the Hurricanes at bay. With only two pitchers, the Nighthawk hurlers did just that.
It began with the starter, senior right-hander Wes Lott who went 6.2 innings allowing just one run on five scattered hits. Against GSW who had worked the second most walks as a team in NCAA Division II, Lott gave up just one free pass on Friday. He earned his seventh win of the year to improve to 7-0 on the mound.
After Lott, head coach Tom Cantrell relied on redshirt junior left Zach Green to close out the game.
Green entered with two outs in the seventh inning and allowed just one hit through the next seven batters on the way to the win.
UNG is now 16-2 when playing at home and 21-9 overall on the season. With a 10-3 conference record, the Nighthawks sit in second place a half-game behind Georgia College in first.
UNG will finish its three-game series with GSW tomorrow, Saturday, Mar. 30 with a 1 p.m. start from Bob Stein Stadium.
