MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. — The No. 6 University of North Georgia baseball team scored seven runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 13-6 win over host and top-seeded Mount Olive, in third round action of the 2017 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Saturday evening at Mount Olive's Scarborough Field.
North Georgia (45-10) advances to Monday's championship game at noon.
The Nighthawks belted 18 hits on the night as first inning homeruns by Connor Hoover and Andres Perez kickstarted the hit parade.
All nine players in the lineup recorded a hit with Devin Gearhart leading the way with a 4-for-5 game. Perez, Conner Corbitt and Steven Tomlinson each added three-hit performances from the plate.
Logan Burt earned his third victory of the season with a solid five and one third innings of relief work in which the left hander allowed just a single run while striking out four Trojans.
Mount Olive's Austin Hutchison (12-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season after allowing the first seven runs of the game on six hits in just two thirds of an inning of work.
NOTES
- Mount Olive (48-9) had won 18 of their last 19 contests and was 26-1 at Scarborough Field prior to tonight's game.
- The win marks the third time this season that the Nighthawks have knocked off the top-ranked team in the country.
- The game was delayed due to lightning in the bottom of the sixth with Trojans on first and second with no outs. Following a 30 minute delay, Burt returned to the hill to sit down the next three batters to avoid any damage.
- Corbitt's three knocks marked the tenth time this season that the sophomore has recorded three hits in a game.
- Hoover's first inning homerun was his team-best 18th of the season.
NEXT
The second-seeded Nighthawks advance to the championship game on Monday at 12:00 p.m. The opponent will either be Mount Olive, fourth-seeded Catawba or seventh-seeded Lincoln Memorial and that team will have to defeat UNG twice.
