>> GEORGIA COLLEGE
The Georgia College & State University (GCSU) baseball team (3-8, 2-1 PBC) visited Flagler College (1-12, 1-5 PBC) Feb. 24-26, in St. Augustine, Fla., where they picked up 2-0 and 12-3 victories on Friday and Saturday but fell 2-1 on Sunday. The weekend marked the Bobcats' first Peach Belt Conference (PBC) series this season.
Milledgeville’s Brandon Bellflower drove in the first run for GCSU in the sixth inning with a single up the middle that sent Evan Cowan to score. The Bobcats added an insurance marker in the eighth inning, scoring a run through a pair of walks and an error.
Josh Hudgins pitched seven innings for the Bobcats, allowing only two hits and a single walk while striking out seven Saints.
Conference Freshman of the Week John Raines took over the mound from Hudgins for the final two innings and struck out five while allowing no hits to earn his first save.
On Saturday, the Bobcats struck first again, scoring two runs in the opening inning, but they wouldn’t get on the board again until the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Knowles. The big bat of GCSU’s Matthew Chester then sent a solo moonshot over the left-center wall for the only run of the sixth inning.
Flagler finally responded with a pair of runs in the seventh inning, but the Bobcat bats came alive again in the eighth as they plated five more runs.
Chester highlighted the offense for GCSU in Game 2, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Meanwhile, Suwanee’s Luc Scudellari picked up his first win on the mound with his start. He allowed no runs and had six strikeouts in four innings of work.
The Bobcats finished off the series against the Saints with a 2-1 pitching- duel loss on Sunday. Flagler scored one run each in the bottom of the third and fifth innings, with GCSU responding with a lone score in the seventh inning.
Palmer Sapp was the standout hitter for the Bobcats, going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while third baseman Ben Tuten also had a pair of singles in four at-bats.
The Bobcats were led by a strong pitching performance from Toccoa’s Davis Swenson, who allowed just one run on five hits and a walk while striking out four batters in the first four innings.
Raines pitched the rest of the way, giving up just a single run on two hits and striking out two batters.
The Bobcats return to action this Friday on the road at Young Harris College for their second conference series, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. Friday. As always, live stats and broadcast links are available at GCBobcats.com.