DAHLONEGA — What could have turned out to be a rocky start for lefty Steven Bower turned out to be a magical night for the sophomore as he threw the first no-hitter in University of North Georgia history, giving the No. 5 Nighthawks a 10-0 victory over Montevallo Friday evening at Bob Stein Stadium. UNG improves to 24-6 on the year with a 10-3 mark in the Peach Belt Conference.
The start of the game certainly didn't give any indication of what would come nine innings later as the Falcons got their leadoff hitter aboard with a rare fielding error by the North Georgia infield a wild pitch and a walk ensued but Bower would team up with Trevor Sams with a great pickoff move to swing the momentum to the Nighthawks, getting out of the inning without any damage.
UNG led off the second with back-to-back singles and after a double-play but Bill Leroy at third with two gone, Andres Perez put North Georgia on the board with an RBI single to center.
Leroy drove in the Nighthawks' next run in the third with a two-out single to left that plated Michael Gouge from second, making the UNG lead 2-0.
The Nighthawks broke the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth, bringing 11 batters to the plate with six coming in to score, highlighted by Leroy's bases clearing three-run double to right.
Bower retired 16 straight Falcons from the end of the first until Daniel Pardo led off the seventh with a 3-2 walk, after picking up a quick strikeout, Bower induced a tailor-made double play ball to get out of the inning.
Sams put another run on the board for North Georgia in the home half of the seventh with an RBI single to left that drove in Connor Hoover. Then, Bower showed his stamina in the top of the eighth by striking out the side in order.
The offense continued for the Nighthawks in the bottom of the eighth as Hoover batted in another run with a two-out single to bring in Steven Tomlinson.
Tension filled the Ol' Sombrero as Bower took the mound in the top of the ninth with zeros still hanging up in Montevallo's runs and hits columns. Collin Dupree almost took the breath out of the UNG fans who were sitting on the edge of their seat, smashing a line drive into shallow right center but Conner Corbitt had no intensions of letting the no-no slip away as he came up with the web gem on a diving effort.
With two outs standing between Bower and North Georgia history, the Lawrenceville native had to face the top of the Montevallo order one last time. Chad Wagner hit a high fly into center but Tomlinson was there to record the second out. That left Matthew Furuto standing as the last chance for the Falcons. After fouling off a 2-0 pitch, Furuto hit a hot shot right at Bower on the mound. The southpaw knocked the ball down, quickly picked it up off the dirt and threw on to Sams at first to complete the no-hitter, nearly immediately being met by the entire team just steps from the mound.
NOTES
- Bower's no-no is the 21st in Peach Belt Conference history and just the 10th in a nine-inning game. It is only the fourth no-hitter in a PBC league game and the first in over 12 years.
- Bower (6-2) allowed just three base runners all night, all by way of base on balls, while striking out 10.
- Bill Leroy led UNG at the plate with a 3-for-5 night that included two runs scored and four runs batted in.
- The domination of the home team in the North Georgia-Montevallo series continued tonight. UNG is now 11-3 all-time against the Falcons at Bob Stein Stadium.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will look to clinch the series in game two tomorrow. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
