(DAHLONEGA )– In its most exciting victory of the season, the University of North Georgia baseball team rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to come back and beat No. 15 Georgia Southwestern 7-6 on Thursday night. The Nighthawks now have a 15-2 record at Bob Stein Stadium this season after the thrilling finish against the Hurricanes.
UNG entered Thursday’s contest on a five-game losing streak and having just recently dropped out of the ABCA top-25 poll. Meanwhile, Georgia Southwestern arrived in Dahlonega riding high on a five-game winning streak and recently earning its highest ABCA ranking in program history at No. 15.
All night long, it looked like the Hurricanes would continue their winning ways with redshirt senior pitcher Nick McCulloch on the mound.
McCulloch, the 2023 Peach Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year, has been on a tear this season. Thursday was perhaps one of his best starts of the year as he didn’t not allow a base runner until the fifth inning and did not allow a hit until the sixth.
Despite McCulloch’s quick pace and abundant strike-throwing, the Nighthawks got on the board first in the game after sophomore utility player Edwin Bowman IV broke the hitless spell with a double down the left field line to lead off the sixth inning.
Bowman scored a few batters later when sophomore outfielder Andrews Opata flew out on a sacrifice to center field.
The happy UNG dugout and its lead did not last long.
In the top of the seventh, GSW brought home two runs on a throwing error from sophomore second baseman Brady Skipper.
Skipper fielded a bouncing ball that was tailor made for an inning-ending double play. Instead, his throw to second base was low and wide as the ball raced into left field. Both runners scored and GSW quickly held a 2-1 lead.
Two batters later, another Nighthawk error allowed two more runs to score as Bowman misplayed a single to right, giving GSW a 4-1 advantage.
In the home half of the seventh, redshirt sophomore first baseman had one of the best at bats of the season to get UNG on the board again.
After working a 10-pitch walk against McCulloch in the fifth, Ard would face the righty again in the seventh. Not long after Ard worked a full count for the second time did he belt a hooking home run towards the left field foul pole. The ball was clearly gone, but it was unclear whether it was in fair territory or not. As Ard reached first base, the third base umpire signaled for a home run, making it a 4-2 game.
In the eighth, the Hurricanes padded their lead with a two-run homer from redshirt junior catcher Kalvin Alexander. The blast was Alexander’s 13th of the season, ranking him No. 3 in that category among all NCAA Div. II sluggers.
With downtrodden spirits and backs against the wall in the last of the ninth, it was Ard who would come through again to spark offense for the Nighthawks.
McCulloch was now out of the game after pitching eight complete innings in which he allowed just two runs on four hits.
Ard would face powerful reliever Dameon Woodruff. The redshirt junior held a 1.98 ERA in relief entering the game. That changed quickly when Ard launched his second home run of the game and team-leading sixth bomb of the season.
Ard’s blast gave UNG life but it still had work to do. At 6-3 with nobody out in the ninth, the Nighthawks still needed two base runners before the tying run even came into consideration. They got just that on back-to-back singles from junior outfielder Jorge Arispuro and sophomore infielder Luke Starling.
In a pressure spot, ill experienced sophomore Jace Bowen was relied on to keep the rally going.
Bowen had played in just 9 games with 32 at bats before he came up representing the tying run in the ninth on Thursday. Despite that fact, Bowen singled to right for his second of the day, loading the bases for Bowman.
As the Hurricanes went to their bullpen for the second time in the inning, still having not recorded an out, the Nighthawk coaching staff talked strategy.
Before Bowman would bat, redshirt junior pitcher Zach Green was called on to pinch run for Bowen.
Bowman worked a walk to bring in a run and make it 6-4.
Then, freshman catcher Kyle Robitzsch was called on to pinch hit as UNG had the tying run in scoring position while junior outfielder Josh Sosa pinch ran for Bowman.
Robitzsch punched a flare into right field. As junior right fielder Brant Deerman charged the ball, no one could tell whether it would land or be caught. The blooper dropped a few feet in front of Deerman but Starling was back near third base in case he needed to tag up.
Starling raced home as Deerman fired a bullet to home plate. Perhaps forgetting that the force play was on, the catcher Alexander caught the ball and reached to tag Starling instead of just standing on home plate. The tag was not in time, and UNG was within one run with the bases loaded and still zero outs.
The lineup flipped over to Opata who wasted no time ending the game. On the first pitch, he roped a liner down the third base line. The ball just barely landed in fair territory as Green scored easily from third. Sosa raced around the bag at third as head coach Tom Cantrell waved him home. He slid safely and the Nighthawks had completed a stunning five-run, ninth inning comeback.
The dugout raced onto the field and mobbed Opata as the celebration drifted all the way into left center field. It signified the excitement of a comeback win and the relief of ending a five-game skid.
Now UNG looks to ride the high of the come-from-behind win with another victory tomorrow, Friday, Mar. 29 at 6 p.m. against the Hurricanes in game two of the three game series.
