>> GEORGIA COLLEGE
Georgia College & State University Baseball (3-11, 3-3 PBC) took a couple of tough series losses March 4, but rebounded with a win the next day while visiting No. 25 Young Harris College (13-6, 6-3 PBC) in North Georgia.
In game one, the Bobcats got on the board first with a pair of runs in the second inning and followed up with another two scores in the third, but Young Harris (YHC) exploded for 10 in the bottom of the third inning.
The Bobcats managed one more run in the fourth inning, but a four-run effort in the seventh by the Mountain Lions secured the 14-5 final score.
Although the Bobcats out-hit YHC for the entire game, with 13 compared to YHC's 10 hits, they were unable to overcome the huge deficit created in the third inning.
Shortstop Palmer Sapp, out of Dawsonville, provided an early highlight for the Bobcats with a home run to right field in the second inning that also drove in an RBI. It marked Sapp's first homer this season and his sixth overall as a Bobcat. The loss went to right-handed starting pitcher Davis Swenson of Toccoa, dropping his record to 0-3.
In game two, YHC took an early 4-0 advantage after the second inning and never looked back, winning 6-2 after GCSU scored twice in the fourth inning. Third baseman Ben Tuten had the best game for the Bobcats, going 3-for-4 at the plate and scoring the second run for GCSU on a broken play in the field by YHC.
Despite the loss, righthanded starter Josh Hudgins put up a strong performance, allowing only two earned runs over six innings and striking out a career-best 11 batters. However, he still was charged with the loss, to even up his record at 1-1.
In their final game against YHC last Sunday, the home team again got on the scoreboard first with a home run in the second inning, but GCSU responded with a pair of their own in the third, beginning with a solo home run by designated hitter Baylin Moore over the right-field fence. Left fielder Matthew Chester followed that up with a single up the middle to send catcher Trey Ham home and give the Bobcats a 2-1 advantage.
Georgia College scored one run each in the fifth through seventh innings, then added two more in the eighth to finish out a 7-2 victory.
Chester again drove Ham home in the fifth before first baseman Jaxon Weatherford, making his first appearance in a Bobcats uniform, hit a solo home run in the sixth. In the seventh inning, Tuten singled to the YHC pitcher and was thrown out at first, but Domenic Arienzo managed to score on the play.
The Mountain Lions also scored in the seventh, but the eighth inning brought two final Bobcats runs, as Sapp scored on another RBI by Ham before Moore made it home for the final score of the weekend off a hit by Arienzo.
The Bobcats’ game was highlighted by an outstanding performance from senior left-hander Luc Scudellari of Roswell, who threw seven innings and gave up just one earned run on five hits and three walks. Scudellari (1-1) also struck out seven Mountain Lion batters before Felt took over for the final two innings, allowing no hits and striking out three batters.