AIKEN, S.C. – The University of North Georgia baseball team split a doubleheader with USC Aiken Saturday after dropping a near four-hour first game 14-12 and holding off the Pacers for a 6-5 win in game two. The Nighthawks will return home to Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park for the final four games of the regular season.

Saturday's first game saw a total of 26 runs, 31 hits and five errors between the Pacers and Nighthawks in an offensive marathon that ended with USC Aiken emerging victorious.

12 pitchers in total were sent out to the mound between the two teams. 

Senior righty Wes Lott got things started for UNG, but only lasted two innings before being pulled. Pacers starter Hunter Steger didn't last much longer as he was removed after the fourth inning.

By then, USC Aiken was in front 6-2 after scoring runs in the game's first three innings. 

However, a big five-run fifth inning gave the Nighthawks their first lead of the game. 

A throwing error allowed redshirt sophomore first baseman Phillip Ard to reach and scored sophomore center fielder Andrews Opata to get the frame started for UNG. Then junior Riley Frost doubled down the line in right field to bring home freshman outfielder Noah Darden and Ard.

Then junior outfielder Josh Sosa ripped a single to center field, plating Frost to tie the game. 

A wild pitch in the next at bat moved Sosa to third and scored freshman third baseman Kyle Robitzsch to give the Nighthawks the lead. 

The Pacers took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth, scratching across four runs to go up 10-7. 

UNG held close in the seventh with two more runs to make it 10-9. It was Sosa coming through again for head coach Tom Cantrell's team. He ripped another single to centerfield, scoring Frost once more to make it 10-8. Then Darden walked with the bases loaded to pull the Nighthawks within a run. 

After sophomore right-hander Connor Harris held USC Aiken scoreless in the seventh, UNG reclaimed the lead in the top half of the eighth. 

After sophomore second baseman Brady Skipper and sophomore outfielder Edwin Bowman IV reached base, Robitzsch doubled to score Skipper and tie the game. 

Then Sosa racked up his third RBI of the day on a ground out that brought Bowman home, putting the Nighthawks in front once more, 11-10. 

Junior catcher Bryson Stripling followed with an RBI single, scoring Robitzsch and extending the lead to 11-10. 

Unfortunately, the Pacers scored four runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead right back.

In the ninth, the Nighthawks had the tying run at the plate with one out as Ard had reached on a single through the left side. 

The Nighthawks fell behind early in the game again in Saturday's second game against the Pacers. 

USC Aiken got a pair of runs in the home half of the second and held a 2-0 lead until the fifth inning. 

However, it was in the top of the fifth that UNG would charge back into the game. 

After Robitzsch grounded out to start the frame, four straight singles including an RBI knock from Opata saw the Nighthawks get on the board. 

Two batters after Opata, Ard flew out on a sacrifice to left center with the bases loaded, plating Stripling and tying the game. Then Skipper and Frost each singled to bring home a run in the next two at bats, launching UNG in front 4-2.

Sosa added an insurance run in the next inning when he clobbered his fourth home run of the year over the left field wall. The solo shot made it 5-2. 

Sosa had a tremendous day for UNG. With a home run and four RBI in total, he went 6-for-9 (.667) at the dish while scoring four runs as well.

An RBI single from the Pacers got Sosa's run back in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-3. 

In the seventh, another RBI single inched USC Aiken a little bit close in what was now a 5-4 game. However, the Pacers were never able to retake the lead with the same magic they had in game one, as a defensive mistake cost them badly in the top of the eighth. 

With the bases loaded and zero outs in the frame, USC Aiken shortstop Jack Hobson bobbled a ball hit for him that allowed Sosa to score an unearned run and make it 6-4. 

The error would be the decisive miscue in the game, as the Pacers got an unearned run of their own in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-5. They had a chance to tie or win the game in the ninth, but a heads up defensive play from Robitzsch ended the threat. 

At third, Robitzsch fielded a bouncing ball with runners at first and second and two outs. Instead of risking a throw to first on a day when both teams racked up costly errors, the junior applied the tag on USC Aiken's speedy Josh Sharp and ended the game right on the spot.