COLUMBUS — Things didn't go quite as planned for the No. 1-ranked North Georgia baseball team Friday night at Burger King Stadium, falling to Columbus State, 9-3. The Nighthawks slip to 30-8 overall with a 14-5 record in Peach Belt Conference play.
The Cougars got on the board early with a two-run double in the bottom of the first. Connor Hoover drove in the first run of the game for UNG in the top of the third with an RBI groundout but Columbus State would answer in the home half of the inning to go back up by two.
CSU broke the game open in the fourth, scoring four runs on a pair of two-run base hits. Mason McClellan extended the Columbus lead to 9-1 with a two-run shot down the left field line in the sixth.
North Georgia threatened in the top of the eighth, loading the bases with no outs. The Nighthawks could only drive in two runs though, with an RBI single from Michael Bell and another run coming in on a double play ball to give the game its final score of 9-3.
NOTES
- Steven Bower (7-3) was tagged with the loss allowing two runs on three hits in his short night of just two innings. The bulk of the CSU damage came against Logan Burt who allowed five runs on five hits and a pair of walks.
- Devin Gearhart was the only Nighthawk with multiple hits on the night, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
- The Cougars extend their lead in the all-time series against North Georgia to 20-16 with the win, although UNG has performed better at Ragsdale Field with the record at 9-8 in CSU's advantage.
NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will look to even the series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
