‘Cats on nine-game win streak

The GCSU baseball team has increased its winning streak to nine games in a row as of Tuesday, Feb. 24 after a road victory over Valdosta State University.

The win follows a sweep of a weekend series against Armstrong Atlantic State University that put the Bobcats at 3-0 in the PBC.

In game one on Saturday, Feb. 21, the Pirates caught the Bobcats flatfooted initially and took an early three-run lead in the top of the first inning. The Bobcats held their own despite the four errors that contributed to the Pirates’ advantage.

The Bobcats came out strong on offense in the third inning. Junior shortstop Chandler Snell stole second base and junior center fielder Sean Harrell brought him in with the lone home run of the game, bringing the score to 3-2.

The Pirates again took advantage of two more errors, one in the fourth and one in the sixth inning but only bumped up the score 5-2 in the latter inning.

Offensively, the Bobcats picked up the pace. The hits were coming as solid flies and line drives to the outfield, yet the Pirate’s defense stayed solid, preventing base runners from scoring.

The GCSU offense finally came together in one fluid motion in the eighth inning. Senior left fielder Derek Johns began the hitting streak as he singled to right field and advanced to second on a fielding error. Junior designated hitter Buddy Elmore advanced to second as senior catcher Pete Paris singled by third. Senior second baseman Brooks Robinson hit a double, bringing home Elmore and Johns for a score of 5-4. Junior first baseman Matt Pitts brought home Robinson and a pinch runner, junior third baseman Paul Bordon, which gave the Bobcats a slim lead of 6-5.

Robinson commented on the performance of both teams this weekend.

“Pitching and defense were solid. Our pitchers stayed around the zone, and our defense is always solid, and they made plays when they had to without too many errors on their part,” Robinson said. “The Pirates turned in some key plays of their own, but with no victories to show for it. They did their part, but we had the upper hand on offense.”

Once the momentum was flowing, the Bobcats held their own on the field defensively as junior pitchers Kyle Cravey and Dylan Lightell kept the strikes coming, and a couple of double plays made for easy innings.

The Pirates gained one run in the ninth inning to tie up the game once again. Yet the Bobcats came through with 7-6 victory as Robinson brought home the winning run in the tenth.
In game two, the Bobcats picked up the pace. Johns commented about the energy pick-up.

“First game we were pretty down, we came out a lot better in the second game,” Johns said. “[The win] gave us momentum going into the second game.”

The game remained tied until the fourth inning where the Bobcats pulled ahead with three runs and brought home one run in the fifth and seventh innings. Part of their successful offense is due to stealing bases. Johns stole three in the finale and Snell added one.

Head Coach Tom Carty commented on his team’s offensive strategies.

“I think offensively we have enough balance that we can be really dangerous at times,” Carty said. “We also steal bases which puts us in scoring position a lot.”

The Bobcats took the final game 7-2.

Carty commented on the team’s building chemistry.

“I thought we had a little layover from yesterday. We didn’t play very well yesterday defensively and got in trouble the first game. We were lucky enough to do some things late and pitch well enough to cancel poor defense with good pitching,” Carty said. “We didn’t play that well in either game but we still won, so maybe that’s a sign that we can be a decent team this year.”

On Wednesday, the Bobcats traveled to Valdosta and came away with an 8-5 win. GCSU pounded 13 hits in the game, including a 4-for-4, three-RBI night from Paris. Junior third baseman Steve Muoio was 3-for-5 with an RBI, and Johns continued hitting well, going 2-for-6 with two RBI and a run scored.

Junior closer Martin Dewald got the save, his third of the season, pitching a one-two-three ninth.

The Bobcats play a three-game series against conference foe Augusta State University on Feb. 27-28.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 27 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry