DAHLONEGA, Ga. – University of Montevallo junior Steven Knudson homered in his final at-bat to move within one home run of tying the Falcons' record for homers in a single season in a 5-3 loss to nationally-ranked University of North Georgia in their final Peach Belt Conference game April 26.
Knudson concludes his junior season with 24 home runs, which is second all-time in the Falcons' record book behind Chris Walker's 25 home runs during the 1988 season, after homering in all three games of the series against the Nighthawks.
North Georgia, which is ranked No. 18 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II poll, captured the Peach Belt Conference regular season championship outright with the victory. The Falcons, who dropped to 21-26 overall and 12-17 in conference play, and will miss the conference tournament for the first time since the 2011 season.
Knudson led Montevallo offensively as he finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run. Knudson drove in two runs and scored one run.
Freshman Chad Wagner went 1-for-3 at the plate and scored two runs. Senior Cody White also finished 1-for-3 at the plate, while sophomore Dane Hutcheon went 1-for-1 at the plate in a pinch-hitting role.
Senior Vinny Rodriguez, who drove in one run, saw his school-record hitting streak come to an end after going 0-for-3 at the plate. Rodriguez ends his career with the Falcons' longest hitting streak in program history with a 28-game hitting streak.
Senior Jeremy Bagnall (0-1) took the loss after allowing five runs, including four earned runs, on 11 hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 7 1/3 innings, marking the longest outing of his career in his fifth start of the season and his first in conference play.
Freshman Drew Mullinax pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief without allowing a hit.
The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Wagner, who singled to left field in the frame and moved to third base on a double down the left-field line by Knudson, scored on a fielder's choice RBI by Rodriguez.
North Georgia tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning after Bo Edwards lined a triple to center field and came around to score on a RBI double by Tremayne Toorie.
The Nighthawks plated another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Steven Tomlinson doubled down the right-field line in the frame before scoring on a sacrifice fly RBI by Trevor Sams.
North Georgia pushed its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Edwards reached on a walk and stole second base before scoring on a RBI single up the middle by Sams.
The Nighthawks plated their final two runs and took a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sam Tidaback reached on a fielder's choice bunt before scoring on a RBI single to center field by Edwards, who came around to score later in the frame on a RBI double by Sams.
Montevallo plated two runs in the top of the ninth inning to trim the deficit to 5-3 but couldn't plate the tying run. Knudson's two-run blast to left field plated Wagner, who reached on a walk to lead off the frame.
The Falcons started off Peach Belt Conference play with a 8-4 record after clinching their first four conference series, but a difficult schedule down the stretch left Montevallo needing a sweep of North Georgia to remain in the running for a spot in the conference tournament.
