4/30/2017 | Baseball | Box Score

DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Junior shortstop Connor Hoover batted in a school record nine runners as the University of North Georgia baseball team rolled over Emmanuel (Ga.), 18-2, Sunday afternoon on Senior Day at Bob Stein Stadium. The Nighthawks finish the regular season with a record of 40-8 marking the first time in program history UNG has recorded less than 10 losses in a regular season.

North Georgia jumped out to a three-run lead in the bottom of the first, as Trevor Sams hit an RBI-double to right followed by a Michael Bell two-run home run to left.

The Nighthawks would break the game wide open in the bottom of the second, as they sent 12 batters to the plate with seven coming around to score, sparked by Hoover’s three-run triple down the right field line. UNG added two more in the bottom of the third, as Hoover hit the first of his two homers on the day with a two-run shot to center.

Hoover’s three-run bomb over the scoreboard in right center in the bottom of the fourth extended the North Georgia lead to 15-0. The Nighthawks pushed across two more runs in the seventh without the benefit of a hit, using four consecutive walks and a hit batsman to score. Devin Gearhart would drive in the final UNG run of the game with an RBI single behind the second base bag to give the Nighthawks an 18-run lead.

Emmanuel broke up the shutout in the ninth with a pair of RBI doubles to give the game its final score, 18-2.

NOTES
– Daniel McCrary (9-1) picked up the win on the mound allowing just one hit in his five innings of work. The junior from Gainesville struck out five without allowing a walk.

– McCrary becomes just the second pitcher in North Georgia history to reach nine wins in just 10 decisions and is the first since Justin Shurley in 2001. The nine wins in a season is tied for fifth best all-time at UNG.

– Conner Corbitt, Connor Hoover, and Joshua Peterson led the Nighthawk effort at the plate with three hits each. Hoover’s nine runs batted in set a new school record for RBI in a single game.

– This marks UNG’s second 40-win season of the NCAA-era and sixth all-time.

STAT OF THE DAY
10-of-11 – 10 of North Georgia’s 11 seniors saw action today with the only exception being Dylan Peppers who threw six innings in his start last night. Even starting pitcher Blake Gaubert was worked into the lineup in the top of the ninth as skipper Tom Cantrell signaled him into right field just before the start of the inning.

NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will now break for final exams this week before shifting their attention to postseason play. North Georgia will return to action on Weds., May 10 taking on Georgia Southwestern in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament hosted by Francis Marion in Florence, South Carolina. First pitch of that game is set for 5 p.m.