GREENWOOD, S.C -- Missed opportunities defined the day for the North Georgia baseball team, as the Nighthawks dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader to Lander, 9-4 and 15-12.
The Nighthawks (21-11, 15-6 Peach Belt) left a combined 31 runners on base in the pair of losses.
UNG got off to a good start in the first game of the day, taking a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth but that's when Lander (19-20, 9-16 PBC) would turn the game around. The Bearcats scored four runs that inning with a pair of two-run base hits. After North Georgia answered with a run in the top of the sixth, LU put up three more runs in the bottom frame of the inning to take an 8-3 lead.
Jacob Beauchamp (5-2) was tagged with the loss, allowing three earned runs on just two hits, but walked eight in his 4.0 innings of work.
Lander jumped out to an early leading taking a 5-1 advantage into the third inning. After UNG pulled with two, 4-6, in the top of the fourth, the Bearcats scored five runs with the help of two homers in the bottom of the fourth.
LU added two more runs in the fifth, but North Georgia started to turn things around in the sixth with a sacrifice fly by Connor Hoover to score Kevin Krupp. The Nighthawks made it a game again in the seventh, scoring six runs on four hits, including a two-run double by Krupp and a three-run home run by Tremayne Toorie. The UNG rally pulled the Hawks within two, 13-11.
A two-run inning for the Bearcats in the eighth put the game out of reach. North Georgia added a run in the top of ninth for the final 15-12 score.
Dylan Peppers (3-2) got the loss, allowing six earned runs on seven hits, being chased in the third inning.
The Nighthawks return home Tuesday to take on West Florida with first pitch set for 6 p.m. The game is the "Field of Dreams: Make-A-Wish" night, with special festivities centering around a fourth-grader from Murrayville.
