ROME- After a dominant opening series sweep against Kentucky State University, the Hawks will play one last game against a non-conference opponent on Tuesday before entering their first conference series against Belmont Abbey this weekend.
 
The Hawks will travel to Cochran, Ga., to face the Middle Georgia Knights for a single game on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. EST. All games will have live stats available via StatBroadcast, and will be streamed on the Conference Carolinas Digital Network.
 
NOTES

• The Hawks started their 2026 campaign off with a dominant sweep against Kentucky State.  Game one was full of firepower as Wilmer Henriquez sent two out of the park, along with Josh Tattershall leaving the coup-de-grace on a baseball of his own.
• Tanner Folds started the first game and went five innings with four punchouts and only five hits to give the Hawks the 14-4 victory.
• Game Two was a near historic performance as the Hawks exploded in the bottom of the first with a whopping twenty runs scored in that bottom half alone. The NCAA record is only three runs above that, with Division I George Mason scoring 23 runs in an inning only last year. Shorter would end up taking Game 2 27-0 with Logan Bryson, Bennett Reeves, and Grayson Goss blanking the Thorobreds in five innings to complete the combined no-hitter.
• Game 3 saw Josh Tattershall and Michael Barron both going deep, along with an RBI double from Brooks McKenna to boot, as the Hawks glided to an 11-8 victory in place of two Thorobreds homers.
• Game 4 put the bow on a beautiful opening series featuring a grand slam from Tyler Zawacki and another bomb from Josh Tatershall, not to mention J.D. Wilkins' solid debut with seven strikeouts in four innings as the Hawks cruised to a 26-1 victory.

 
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS

• This upcoming Tuesday will be the first time the Hawks have ever faced Middle Georgia.
• Middle Georgia enters Tuesday's game coming off a 16-6 victory at home against Eckerd.
• The Knights went 2-1 in that series against Eckerd and are 2-3 in their last five games.
• One Knight to keep an eye out for is Junior Mikal Ashley, who leads the team in average (.458) and hits (11). In those 11 hits, Ashley has driven in 5 runners. Ashley shows aggressive discipline at the plate with eight walks and eight strikeouts. The key to success on the mound against Ashley will likely be good offspeed placement, as he doesn't tend to be fooled by out-of-the-zone stuff.
• Another Knight to watch is Junior Kody Collins, who has been dominant out of the pen for the Knights. In five innings, Collins has struck out eight batters while only issuing one walk in 2026.

 
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