12/11/17

DAHLONEGA – After the most successful season in program history, University of North Georgia head baseball coach Tom Cantrell has released the Nighthawks’ 2018 schedule that will see 34 games played at Bob Stein Stadium. The defending NCAA Southeast Region champions will have the first pitch of the season on February 2.

In 2017, the Nighthawks won the Peach Belt regular season championship before sweeping through the Southeast Regional to advance to the school’s first-ever NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, hosted in Grand Prairie, Texas. UNG won a NCAA-era program-best 46 games and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time in program history as well.

The season will kick off with a nine-game homestand where the Nighthawks will take on Florida Tech, Florida Southern and Trevecca Nazarene over the first three weekends in February. UNG will then open Peach Belt Conference play in St. Augustine, Florida, against Flagler in a three-game set starting on February 23.

North Georgia will play its only regular-season doubleheader on March 3 at home against Georgia Southwestern to open up the home PBC slate. After a trip to Aiken, South Carolina, the Nighthawks will return home to open a five-game homestand starting with a mid-week matchup against Southern Wesleyan, followed by a three-game series against Georgia College and another midweek game against West Georgia.

UNG will have 13 straight home games in the month of April that will include the Battle of Blood Mountain series against Young Harris and Make-A-Wish Day. The Nighthawks will also have Hall of Fame Day during the YHC series and will celebrate Make-A-Wish Day in the first of a two-game midweek series against West Florida on April 17.

The Nighthawks will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Bob Stein Stadium against Columbus State on May 4-6 before traveling back to Flagler for the PBC Tournament.