DAHLONEGA – The No. 16 University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team won its seventh straight Peach Belt Conference series in a 4-0 shutout win over Flagler in game two of the weekend series at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park on Saturday.

The Nighthawks (29-11, 17-3 Peach Belt) moved into a tie for first place in the league after Georgia College (26-16, 17-3) suffered a loss at Lander Saturday. UNG will face the Bobcats in Milledgeville for the final series of the regular season on April 25-27. 

Saturday's win over the Saints (26-14, 10-10) came after a lengthy duel between the two starting pitchers for both teams.

The Nighthawks got on the board early after junior center fielder Andrews Opata reached on a lead-off single to start the game. Opata stole both second and third base to put himself in scoring position for a sacrifice fly from redshirt freshman Nicholas Stinson. 

Opata's base knock would be one of only three hits UNG could muster against Flagler starter Cooper Smith. The righty threw over 100 pitches in seven complete innings of work as he allowed the one run on three hits, three walks while tallying a season-high eight strikeouts. 

Usually that would be a good enough start to earn his team the win. However, sophomore left-hander Luke Earnhardt took the bump for the Nighthawks on Saturday. 

Earnhardt was spectacular against the Saints. He too only allowed three hits in the game but did not give up a run as he completed eight innings with just two walks and seven strikeouts which included a "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" double play to end his day. 

The eighth-inning start was the longest of Earnhardt's career and his seven strikeouts marked his fifth start this season with six or more Ks. His earned run average dropped to a team-best 3.36 on the second shutout performance of his spectacular year. 

Perhaps using the momentum from the inning-ending double play in the eighth, the Nighthawk bats came alive against the Flagler bullpen in the home half of the frame.

With Smith removed from the contest, UNG went to work against one of the best Saints relievers of the year in Drew Rosenberg who boasted a 3.60 ERA entering the contest.

That number went up as Opata led off the inning with another single. A groundout moved Opata into scoring position and opened up first base which Flagler head coach Greg Guilliams decided to intentionally occupy rather than face redshirt junior first baseman Phillip Ard. 

While Ard is the lead power bat in the Nighthawk lineup, the thing that makes this team so good is the quality of the bats around him. In this case, namely Stinson. The rookie has been clutch all season for UNG and he was again Saturday. With Opata and Ard on base, Stinson ripped a double to the gap in right center field to add an insurance run at 2-0. 

Sophomore outfielder Kyle Robitzsch was then intentionally walked to load the bases. It was likely an effort by Guilliams to simply put the force play in effect, however, it appeared senior outfielder Jorge Arispuro may have taken offense to that. He lined a single into center field to plate the final two runs of the game and secure the 4-0 victory. 

The shutout marked the second of the season for UNG and the first since a 6-0 win back on March 1 at Columbus State. 

The Nighthawks will look for their fourth sweep of a conference foe this season tomorrow, Sunday, April 13 when they take the field at Bob Stein Stadium against the Saints once more at 1 p.m.