Ard, Opata Named To D2CCA Southeast All-Region Teams
DAHLONEGA – The No. 22 University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team had two players named to the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Southeast All-Region Teams per the association's announcement Friday.
Junior center fielder Andrews Opata was named to the D2CCA Southeast All-Region First Team while redshirt junior Phillip Ard earned a spot on the All-Region Second Team.
Opata earned the second All-Region acclaim this season with Friday's announcement after having earned the same All-Region First Team selection from the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Saturday. The 2025 Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team selection has been a bona fide star this season for the Nighthawks.
Opata finished the regular season ranked fifth nationally in runs and hits. He ended the year also ranked ninth in stolen bases with 42 swipes on the year, which ranks as the second-most in a single season in program history. His 62 RBIs also ranked among the top 65 hitters nationally.
A hitting machine with a regular-season batting average of .380, Opata led the team with 31 multi-hit games this year. He also had 15 multi-RBI games which ranked second on the team behind his fellow all-region selection.
Ard led the team and ranked second in the country with a staggering 98 RBIs this season, shattering the program single-season record of 78 set by Richie Daigle back in 2005. The first baseman had multiple RBIs in 23 games this season. He never went more than three games without batting a runner in.
The PBC All-Conference Second Team and All-Tournament Team selection also ranked fourth in the country with 24 home runs this season. In an elimination game against No. 14 Belmont Abbey in the 2025 Southeast Regional on Saturday, Ard belted a fourth-inning home run to break the program record for most homers in a single season. His 1.72 RBIs per game average ranked second in the country as well.
Ard and Opata have now both earned NCBWA and D2CCA all-region acclaim this season.
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