DAHLONEGA – The No. 13 University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team was eliminated from the 2025 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament after a heartbreaking 15-11 loss to fourth-seeded Columbus State (CSU) Monday afternoon. 

After rain delays on Friday and Saturday pushed the completion of the semifinal round to Monday, the Nighthawks and Cougars were ready to square off in a win-or-go-home game at Bob Stein Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park Monday.

While UNG is still in line to be selected for the 2025 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament, CSU was very much playing to continue its season as a loss would've sent the Cougars home for good.

With that fury in their hearts, CSU jumped out to an early lead by scoring three runs in the first inning to go up 3-0.

The Nighthawks answered back in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI groundout from redshirt junior first baseman Phillip Ard to make it 3-1. 

In the second inning, junior right fielder Edwin Bowman IV began the best game of his career with an RBI double to right field to plate UNG's second run of the day. 

The score remained 3-2 for the next three innings as the Nighthawks desperately tried to scratch across the tying run. While UNG starting pitcher Matthew Heard shut down the Cougars in the middle innings, his offense struggled to provide run support as the bats left the tying and or go-ahead run on base in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Finally, in the sixth inning after Heard had retired 12 straight batters, UNG broke through to tie the game. 

It was Bowman who was the hero again as he laced his second hit of the day into center field to score junior second baseman Brady Skipper and even the contest at 3-3.

Heard retired the side in order again in the seventh, marking 15 straight outs. 

In the home half of the inning, hitting ran rampant through the Nighthawk lineup. Ard opened the at bat with a double to left. A walk and fielder's choice brought Skipper to the plate with two on and one out. His walk loaded the bases for senior third baseman Riley Frost who lifted a single to right field, giving UNG its first lead of the game.

Bowman then stepped up and before the crowd could settle down after Frost's RBI single, he drilled a ground ball back up the middle on one pitch to plate two more runs. 

A single and sacrifice fly completed the four-run inning. The Nighthawks went from down 3-2 to up 7-3 in just two innings. As they entered the eighth inning, they only needed six outs to advance to the PBC Championship series for the first time since 2021.

After a lead-off walk, graduate left-handed pitcher Zach Green was called in from the bullpen. UNG's saves leader retired the next three hitters in order which included a strikeout to end the inning. 

In the eighth, the Nighthawks were firmly in the driver's seat, but not done scoring. Senior outfielder Jorge Arispuro banged his sixth home run of the year over the right field wall in an 0-2 count with two outs. He zapped the life out of the CSU dugout as his two-run blast put UNG in front 9-3. 

Then disaster of epic proportions struck in the top of the ninth inning. The Cougars caught fire with their bats as each of the first seven batters reached base. 

Suddenly, Nighthawk junior reliever Ryan Taylor was on the mound in a 9-8 ball game. The situation rose to storybook level as Taylor faced CSU's Michael Cruz. Ninth inning, bases loaded, two outs, full count. It's the situation every kid dreams of when using their imagination in the backyard. 

Unfortunately, Cruz had the storybook ending instead of Taylor. The third baseman lined a single into center field, scoring two runs to give the Cougars the lead and complete one of the most improbable comebacks in recent memory. 

At 10-9, CSU did not stop there. Five more runs came across in the inning as the Cougars scored a jaw-dropping 12 runs in the ninth inning with their season on the line. Seven of those runs came with two outs. 

Shell shocked, UNG had to go back to bat in the bottom of the ninth. A necessary task that seemed impossible when taking the field with a six-run lead 30 minutes prior. 

A two-out single from redshirt freshman Nicholas Stinson kept hopes alive for the Nighthawks by making it 15-11. 

UNG had the tying run on deck but could not overcome the pitching of Trace Goforth in the last inning. 

It cannot go without mention that Bowman had another base hit in the ninth inning. Inserted into the lineup after the season ending injury to sophomore outfielder Kyle Robitzsch, Bowman has been spectacular in the postseason. The right fielder went 5-for-5 against the Cougars with four RBIs, tying Ard for the most hits in a game this season. He went 10-for-20 with five runs scored and four RBIs in the PBC Tournament this weekend.

CSU advances to the PBC Championship series in Greenwood, S.C. against second-seeded Lander May 8-9. The Nighthawks will await their fate with the committee and NCAA Selection Show. The 13th-ranked team in the nation entered the PBC Tournament as the fifth-ranked team in the Southeast Region.