Despite having baserunners in scoring position in seven of the nine innings, Francis Marion University was unable to capitalize on the many opportunities and the Patriots fell to the University of North Georgia 4-2, Friday night (April 15) in Peach Belt Conference baseball action.

Francis Marion falls to 22-18 overall, 10-12 in the PBC, and into a tie for ninth place in the tightly packed Peach Belt standings.  North Georgia, now 23-16 and 12-13, jumps ahead of the Patriots in the standings.

The two squads will play a single game on Saturday at 3 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. to conclude the three-game series.

Junior shortstop Antonio pino (2-for-5) and junior left fielder Chase Haas (2-for-4) led FMU at the plate.  Every Patriot starter had at least one hit, but FMU left 13 runners on base.

Senior right-hander Fernando Pinillos (5-3) took the loss despite throwing a complete game.  He allowed the four runs on eight hits, while striking out seven.

North Georgia struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first frame.  Nighthawk third baseman Devin Gearhart started the inning with a triple down the right field line. Catcher Sam Tailback gave the Nighthawks a 1-0 lead with a ground ball that resulted in a throwing error to home allowed Gearhart to score. Tailback would score three batters later on a sacrifice fly to right field, making it 2-0.

The Patriots would counter offensively in the top of the second. Junior designated hitter Zach Callahan gave FMU a one-out baserunner with his single up-the-middle. He would eventually work his way to third base after a throwing error from North Georgia starter Brandon Agar (5-3) allowed him to advance all the way to third. Senior third baseman Cole Morris cut the Nighthawks lead in-half 2-1 with his infield run-scoring single.

The Nighthawks would score the eventual game-winning run in the home portion of the second against Pinellas. North Georgia led off the inning with a walk from designated hitter Kevin Krupp. Some small-ball would move Krupp over to third base with two outs. Left fielder Joshua Profit plated Krupp to make it 3-1 with a somewhat surprising bunt, catching the Patriots off-guard as he reached safely at first.

FMU would get a run back in the top-half of the third inning. Senior Right fielder JD Crowe delivered a lead-off single for the Patriots and senior center fielder Casey Claus also singled. A sacrifice bunt from senior first baseman Randy Loew would move both runners into scoring position. Junior catcher Logan Koch found a 1-1 pitch to his liking and was able to get enough on it and his ground out to first base allowed Crowe to score from third. FMU looked to strike for more runs in the frame but a force-out at second base would strand a pair of runners.

Leading 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Nighthawks shortstop Erick Delgado took Pinellas deep with a solo home run to left center.

The Patriots found themselves with a chance to try and knot the score in the seventh inning. Claus would jump start the frame for FMU by reaching on an error by the second baseman. Koch singled into left field, but Agar worked himself out of any potential damage by striking out Callahan and Morris.

Agar pitched 7.2 innings, allowing the two runs on 11 hits. Zach Varner recorded his third save of the season for the Nighthawks in picking-up the final two outs in the ninth inning.

FMU sophomore second baseman Brooks Kennedy delivered a single for the Patriots in the first inning and extended his streak of safely reaching bases to 28 games in the process.

Profit finished the game 2-for-4 for North Georgia and Delgado went 2-for-3 with a home run.