FLORENCE, SC – Francis Marion University erased a three-run deficit with a pair of runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to notch a 5-4 victory over the 19th-ranked University of North Georgia Nighthawks in game one of Saturday's (April 18) Peach Belt Conference baseball twinbill.  A combined four-hit pitching performance helped the Nighthawks silence the Patriots 5-2 in the finale.

Francis Marion's record moves to 25-16 overall and 13-12 in the PBC, while the conference-leading Nighthawks are now 30-12 and 20-7.   The Patriots will visit Barton College on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. non-conference tilt.

Down 4-1 in the seventh inning of game one, junior center fielder Casey Clauss delivered the first of FMU's two-out runs on a run-scoring single.  The Patriots were also aided by a North Georgia fielding error which allowed sophomore shortstop Zach Callahan to score all the way from first on Clauss' hit to bring FMU to within 4-3.

Before a crowd of 1,014, the second-largest in Sparrow Stadium history, senior reliever Jordy Santak (3-3) retired the Nighthawks in order in the eighth, setting the table for Francis Marion's swingers to seal the deal in the bottom of the frame.

The Patriots struck quickly with three straight singles from junior left fielder JD Crowe, senior utility player Matt Rubino, and junior third baseman Randy Loew, eventually chasing losing UNG pitcher Phillip Taylor (1-2) out of the game.  Senior catcher Nicholas McGee walked to force home the tying run and senior right fielder Zac Lenns plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.

Shortstop Connor Hoover paced UNG's offense in game one with a 2-for-5 effort.  Rubino's 2-for-4 output led FMU's regulars.

In the finale, North Georgia jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage on Hoover's RBI groundout in the first.  But UNG starter Dylan Peppers (5-2) and FMU starter Daniel Barfield (3-2) settled in and quieted the offenses, as neither team scored again until Loew's RBI single tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth. 

The Nighthawks claimed the lead in the following frame, however, on a run-scoring single by second baseman Joey Cecere (who went 2-for-4) and an RBI sacrifice fly from Hoover.

UNG added a tally apiece in both the seventh and ninth innings while holding the Francis Marion offense at-bay, as both Peppers and reliever Taylor Keinat, who earned his fourth save, combined on the four-hit pitching performance. 

After plating one run in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by junior designated hitter Shuler Ward to pull within 4-2, the Patriots left the bases loaded and would stranded two more runners in the ninth.

Barfield took the game-two loss, despite giving up just three UNG hits over seven innings with four strikeouts.

In addition to Rubino, Lenns, McGee and Santak, Francis Marion baseball honored Cody Dix, Chandler Smetana and Conner Wessel in Senior Day activities prior to the doubleheader.

Crowe and Clauss did extend their streaks of safely reaching base to 26 and 24 games respectively.