‘Cats crush Trojans, streak at nine
The GCSU baseball team extended its winning streak to nine games this past Tuesday when it traveled to South Carolina and defeated Anderson 11-3.
In the first inning, the Bobcats scored a run when senior first baseman Matt Pitts’ RBI set the score at 1-0. However, the Trojans were quick to respond as they also scored a run to tie GCSU 1-1. The Bobcats were able to pull ahead in the fourth inning when a single hit by junior catcher Richard Pirkle earned him an RBI, with Pitts scoring to set the score at 2-1.
GCSU began to spread the run gap in the sixth inning when two RBI hits by senior pitch-hitter Steve Muoio and senior left fielder Kyle Allen, an RBI earned from a triple hit by senior centerfielder Sean Harrell, and five more runs for a total of eight runs in the sixth put the Bobcats ahead 10-1. GCSU scored for the final time in the seventh inning when a single hit by senior shortstop Brett George allowed sophomore catcher Benton Yuan to cross home plate and give the Bobcats an 11-1 lead over the Trojans.
Anderson attempted to catch up when in the ninth inning they scored two runs but were unable to score again and GCSU defeated the Trojans 11-3 and secured a nine-game winning streak.
“The stolen bases and extra base hits, that just kind of feeds off one another, Harrell said. “When you get one you get the other and it puts everyone in motion and it’s a great way to play baseball in a high-scoring game.”
On the mound for GCSU, junior pitcher Matt Kaplan recorded five strikeouts and allowed only one run in five innings.
This past weekend, the Bobcats were at home and swept Georgia Southwestern in a three-game series.
When the first game started, GCSU pulled ahead in the first inning when junior right fielder Shawn Ward hit a three-run homer and the Bobcats went ahead 4-0 early. Both teams scored three runs in the third inning to make the score 7-3 with the Bobcats leading. In the fifth inning, Ward hit a solo homer, his second of the game, and GCSU brought in four more runs to give them a 13-4 edge over Southwestern. The Hurricanes managed to score one run in the eighth, but the Bobcats responded when Muoio brought in two runs with a single up the middle to secure a GCSU victory with the final score at 14-5.
“We’ve all had our little struggle times and points, but we’re clicking now,” Ward said. “We just have to keep playing good ball and be aggressive, if the pitchers come out and throw strikes and the offense gets it done when we can, I think we’ll go a long way.”
On Saturday, the Bobcats and the Hurricanes played a doubleheader to conclude the series.
At the start of Saturday’s first game, GCSU had a high-scoring first inning when a three-run homer from Harrell, two RBI by Muoio and four other runs gave the Bobcats a 9-0 lead. The third inning brought five runs for the Hurricanes and three for GCSU to put the score at 13-6 in the Bobcats’ favor. Although Southwestern made a good effort to catch up, including scoring five more runs in the fourth inning, they were unable to overcome GCSU’s huge lead at the start of the game, and the Bobcats won the second game of the series 16-12.
In the concluding game of the series, both teams started out aggressively. The Hurricanes were first to take control of the game when they scored one run in the first inning and three runs in the second inning. GCSU scored one run in the second inning and three in the third. Southwestern also scored a run in the third and the third inning ended with the Bobcats trailing 5-4. GCSU stepped up their game when, in the fourth inning, a two-run homer by Harrell and three more runs put the Bobcats ahead for the first time in the game wit the score at 9-5.
Keeping up the momentum, GCSU scored four runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to give them a 15-5 edge. The Hurricanes attempted to catch up in the eight inning by scoring three runs, but the Bobcats responded with four runs, including a three-run homer by Pitts to set the final score at 19-8, allowing GCSU to sweep Southwestern in the three-game series.
The Bobcats are at home this weekend as they face UNC Pembroke in a three-game series, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
“We’ve got to continue to pitch better and just keep getting better on the mound,” head coach Tom Carty said. “We’re slowly getting better and the results are starting to show but that’s something that we want to continue to do.”
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