DAHLONEGA — Friday night will mark the third consecutive year that head coach Tom Cantrell and the No. 23 University of North Georgia baseball team will host the season opener as the Nighthawks play host to Florida Tech at Bob Stein Stadium.
The three-game series with the Panthers has been slightly altered due to forecasted weather on Sunday. The series finale will now be played as part of a Saturday doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m. as scheduled. The second game of the doubleheader will start around 4 p.m.
The Nighthawks are coming off of a season that took UNG to the NCAA Division II Championship in Grand Prairie, Texas, after winning the NCAA Southeast Regional for the first time in program history.
Cantrell starts his 18th season as the skipper of the Nighthawks, looking to make a fourth straight Peach Belt tournament and a third NCAA tournament in four years.
North Georgia returns seven starters from last season's team, including preseason All-Conference players Bill LeRoy and Steven Tomlinson. LeRoy, along with Daniel McCrary, were named Preseason All-American Honorable Mentions on Thursday by the NCBWA.
During the 2018 campaign, the Nighthawks will host 34 games inside Bob Stein Stadium, including the first nine and 13 straight in the month of April. The Nighthawks will also host a Make-A-Wish Day on April 17 as the Argos of West Florida come to Dahlonega for a two-game midweek series.
The Panthers and Nighthawks will open the season at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon in Dahlonega.
