DAHLONEGA – University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball junior center fielder Andrews Opata, redshirt junior first baseman Phillip Ard and sophomore starting pitcher Luke Earnhardt were named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Southeast All-Region Teams Wednesday morning.

Opata was selected as a First Team member by the ABCA while Ard and Earnhardt took home Second Team honors.

Opata earned his third All-Region nod this season with Wednesday's announcement after having earned the same All-Region First Team selection from the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA). The 2025 Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team selection was 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 ranked ninth in NCAA Division II 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.

Earnhardt earned the first All-Region nod of his career Wednesday. The left-handed starter finished the season with a team-low earned run average of 3.47 while also leading the team with 83 strikeouts. Earnhardt ranked in the top 10 in the PBC in both categories along with hits allowed per nine innings (9.03), strikeouts per nine innings (8.24), WHIP (1.31) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.78). The Rabun Gap, Ga. native utilized these specialties to compiled a sterling 11-2 record this season, marking the sixth most wins of any DII pitcher. His 11 wins are tied for the third-most in a single season in program history.

Ard and Opata have now both earned NCBWA, D2CCA and ABCA all-region acclaim this season. Earnhardt's addition to awards on Wednesday marks UNG's seventh all-region selection this season.