Monday, May 2, 2005

SENIORS BLAST #7 SAINTS PAST BLUE HOSE 13-0

Dahlonega, Ga. – A five run second inning propelled North Georgia College & State University past Presbyterian College 13-0 Monday evening as the Saints honored the seniors on Senior Day.

Seniors Kevin Bulger (Snellville, Ga.), Richie Daigle (Alpharetta, Ga.), Ryan Garmon (Dahlonega, Ga.), Joseph Hardigee (Hull, Ga.) Craig McKee (Buford, Ga.), Justin Stowe (Marietta, Ga.), and Jason Willard (Columbus, Ga.) were all honored this evening in a pre-game ceremony as they begin to complete their final regular season games in college. These seven seniors have dominated for North Georgia this season. The five senior pitchers have pitched a combined 240 innings this season with 259 strikeouts. Bulger and Daigle are hitting a combined .356 for the Saints this season with 22 home runs between them. Over the course of the last four years, North Georgia has posted an amazing record of 183-82, a .690 winning percentage.

The seniors once again shined tonight as Stowe picked up his 11th win of the season, McKee closed out the ball game, and Bulger and Daigle went 5-for-9 combined with four runs and six RBIs.

Junior second baseman Brian Lauderdale (Roswell, Ga.) led the first inning off with a double as North Georgia jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Lauderdale has now hit safely in 17 consecutive games dating back to the April 9 game against Southern Polytechnic State University.

In the second inning, the Saints put a run on the board but quickly found themselves with two outs in the inning. The Blue Hose looked to close out the inning, but a walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases. A second walk to freshman designated hitter Erik Good (Dahlonega, Ga.) sent the second run of the inning home and made it a 4-0 ball game. A double by Daigle cleared the bases and gave North Georgia the 7-0 lead after two.

The Saints struck again in the fourth, sixth, and seventh as they put two runs on the board in each inning. Daigle finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBI’s and two runs scored followed by Lauderdale who went 4-for-5 with a run and RBI. Bulger went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs and sophomore first baseman Creston Warner (Jacksonville, Fla.) was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored.

Stowe, sophomore pitcher Michael Whiting (Gainesville, Ga.), and McKee pitched the combined shut out and only allowed four hits in the game. Stowe struck out six batters in six innings and McKee finished off PC in the ninth inning and allowed only two hits.

The Blue Hose used five different pitchers, but freshman starter Ben Dollar (Gaffney, S.C.) took the loss after going 1 1/3 innings of work and allowing seven earned runs off of five hits with one strike out. With the loss, Dollar falls to 0-1 on the season.

PC finishes off their season with a 17-40 record while the Saints improve to 55-13 overall. North Georgia will play tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m. against Lander University at the NGCSU Baseball Complex in their final regular season game.

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