MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia College & State University Baseball team (13-15, 10-6 PBC) fell victim to the big inning in a 12-3 loss to the University of North Georgia (18-15, 9-10 PBC) Friday night at John Kurtz Field.

North Georgia jumped up early with single runs in the second and third. The Bobcats cut that lead in half in the fifth, as catcher Trevor Knowles (Folkston) doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout.

But, the Nighthawks answered right away in the top of the sixth with six runs, sending 10 batters to the plate and busting the game open 8-1. Not going down without a fight, the Bobcats got back-to-back solo home runs from leftfielder Hunter Baker (Huntersville, North Carolina) and Knowles in the seventh, but the rally halted there.

Knowles finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. The home run was the first of his Bobcat career.

Righty starter Josh Hudgins (Dunwoody) evened his record to 3-3 in the loss, going 5 1/3 innings with three earned runs, six hits, three walks and four strikeouts.

The Bobcats and Nighthawks play game two of the three-game series tomorrow, April 1 with a new start time of 4 p.m., pushed back due to incoming rains.

Owning the top Academic Success Rate among public schools in Division II, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won three-straight Presidents' Awards for Academic Excellence, and are two-time winners of both the PBC Commissioner's Cup and the PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in post-season competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports.