March 20, 2010

Photos by Luzny Photography

Game 1 | Game 2

DAHLONEGA, GA – The 17th-ranked North Georgia baseball team picked up a much-needed series sweep of the Montevallo Falcons on Saturday afternoon, handing the Falcons 7-3 and 9-8 defeats at Bob Stein Stadium in Peach Belt Conference action.

The Saints improve to 19-8 overall on the season and move to 9-3 in the Peach Belt Conference, while Montevallo falls to 6-22 on the year, and 0-12 in league action.

In game one, North Georgia put a three spot on the scoreboard in the first inning and never looked back, adding a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning for a 7-3 victory.

Andre Airich continued his hot weekend in the opening inning as he followed back-to-back singles from Craig Brisson and Jordan Erisman with his fourth home run of the season, a shot down the left field line just inside the foul pole to give the Saints a 3-0 lead.

The Falcons did make it interesting in the middle innings with single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to knot the score at 3-3. Austin Dubberly singled home a run in the third inning, while in the fourth inning, Josh Dobbs sent a home run to right center, a solo shot to pull Montevallo to within a run at 3-2. Nelson Garcia would tie the game up in the fifth frame with a single up the middle to plate Andy Revell and even the score once again.

North Georgia would take over from there with the winning run in the fifth inning on a Chad Sage single to make it a 4-3 game, before Daniel Petitti led off the sixth frame with a solo shot to left field, his third long ball in as many games.

Two more runs in the eighth inning provided the 7-3 victory as Erisman tripled home a run, and Airich followed with his fourth RBI of the game and seventh of the series with a single up the middle to bring Erisman trotting home.

Blake Hobby (4-1) picked up the win in 5.0 innings of work, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out four, while Michael Patton came on in relief and recorded his first save of the season in four inning of work, allowing just one hit while fanning four.

Game two featured plenty of offense as the Falcons pushed across the first two runs of the game in the third inning with two hits and the benefit of an error. North Georgia answered right back with a four spot in the bottom half of the inning however, using an RBI single by Airich for the first run, while Chad Sage followed with a three-run blast to give the Saints a 4-2 lead.

North Georgia added a single run in the fourth with an Erisman double to left field to bring Brisson home to score. The Saints followed with three more runs in the sixth frame, thanks to an Alan Fredriksson single up the middle to plate Davy Wallach, and Erisman followed with another big blow, a two-run bomb to left center, giving the Saints an 8-3 lead.

Montevallo would take over from there, putting a five spot on the board in the eighth inning to tie the game 8-8. Scottie Deason starting the scoring barrage with a two-run triple, before back-to-back doubles from Dustin Daugherty and Dubberly scored three more runs to knot the score. The Saints came back with the winning run in the bottom of the inning, using another clutch two-out hit from Airich, his ninth RBI of the weekend, this time a single up the middle to bring Fredriksson racing home for the 9-8 victory.

The North Georgia pitching staff was hard at work, going six deep before Alex Simmons came on to close the ninth inning and pick up his first save of the season. Brett Roney (0-2) suffered the loss for the Falcons, tossing just two-thirds of an innings allowing the go ahead run in the eighth inning.

The Saints return to action on Tuesday afternoon, traveling to West Georgia for a matchup against the Wolves. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m. in Carrollton, Georgia.