DAHLONEGA -- The No. 18 University of North Georgia baseball team etched its mark in school history as the Nighthawks claimed the 2015 Peach Belt Conference regular season championship by virtue of a 5-3 win over Montevallo on Sunday afternoon at Bob Stein Stadium. The PBC conference title is the first in school history for the Nighthawks who improve to 33-13 with the win.
The rubber game win gives UNG the series victory over Montevallo and marks the eighth conference series win out of 10 sets. The 22 conference victories also sets a new PBC era record for head coach Tom Cantrell's squad.
The championship comes on the heels of a 12th place finish just last season, but is not the first time the Nighthawks have collected regular season hardware having won NAIA regular season conference title in both 2001 and 2003.
The Nighthawks will now take the top seed into the PBC Tournament to be held May 9-10 in Columbus, Ga.
The Falcons, who dropped to 21-26 overall and 12-17 in conference play, and will miss the conference tournament for the first time in three years.
"I am most proud for our University because it has been a great year here at North Georgia for all sports," stated Cantrell. "It is awesome to do this (win championship) at home on the new field, and I am just so happy for our players. People counted them out, but they stuck together all year and believed in themselves."
The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Chad Wagner, who singled to left field in the frame and moved to third base on a double down the left-field line by Steven Knudson, scored on a fielder's choice RBI by Vinny Rodriguez.
North Georgia tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning after Bo Edwards lined a triple to center field and came around to score on a RBI double by Tremayne Toorie. Toorie reached base with a double in the previous at bat.
The Nighthawks plated another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Steven Tomlinson doubled down the right-field line in the frame before scoring on a sacrifice fly RBI by Trevor Sams.
North Georgia pushed its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Edwards reached on a walk and stole second base before scoring on a RBI single up the middle by Sams.
The Nighthawks plated their final two runs and took a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sam Tidaback reached on a fielder's choice bunt before scoring on a RBI single to center field by Edwards, who came around to score later in the frame on a RBI double by Sams.
Montevallo plated two runs in the top of the ninth inning to trim the deficit to 5-3 but couldn't plate the tying run. Knudson's two-run blast to left field plated Wagner, who reached on a walk to lead off the frame.
North Georgia (33-13, 22-8 PBC) will wrap up the regular season with a three-game set against Emmanuel beginning on Friday (May 1) at 7:00 p.m.
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