‘Cats run streak to four against VSU
The GCSU baseball team defeated Valdosta at home this past Wednesday and extended its winning streak to four games. The win avenged an 8-7 loss the Bobcats suffered on the road against the Blazers on Apr. 14.
The Bobcats took the lead in the second inning when an RBI from senior shortstop Chandler Snell gave them a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, the Blazers scored two runs but GCSU was quick to respond when senior rightfielder Shawn Ward smashed a three-run homer to left field and junior designated hitter Richard Pirkle’s RBI to put the Bobcats ahead 5-2. Ward struck again in the fourth inning when he hit a solo homer to left, his second of the game and twelfth of the season, to give GCSU a 6-2 lead.
Valdosta hit a solo homer in the sixth, but the Bobcats scored two runs in the seventh when a two-RBI single from senior catcher Benton Yaun put Ward and senior first baseman Matt Pitts across home plate to give GCSU a five-run cushion with the score at 8-3. In the eight inning, the Blazers added one run, but they were unable to catch up and the Bobcats defeated Valdosta 8-4.
On the mound, junior pitcher Jason Nicholas had a great start, hurling nine strikeouts in the first six innings, allowing three runs. Junior Ryan Haynie stepped in for the seventh and eighth innings, recording one stikeout and allowing one run. In the ninth inning, senior Brendon Malkowski allowed two baserunners but closed the door for the victory.
“It’s always great to knock off a ranked opponent,” Ward said. “Overall we played good team baseball and were able to get the win.”
This victory also marked as head coach Tom Carty’s 100th victory as the GCSU head baseball coach in his three seasons coaching the Bobcats.
“I’m here as the head coach, but we have good players and good assistant coaches,” Carty said. “It’s definitely a milestone you like to have in your cap and it’s what you set out to do when you coach here at Georgia College.”
The Bobcats were on the road this past weekend, and swept Montevallo in a three-game series.
The first two games of the series against the Falcons took place on Saturday. GCSU pulled ahead in the first game when they scored two runs in the first, second and third innings, including two RBI from junior second baseman Jason Venya in the third inning, giving the Bobcats a 6-0 lead. After scoring one run in the fifth inning, GCSU was able to spread the gap when in the sixth inning a three-run homer from Pitts set the score at 10-0. Senior centerfielder Sean Harrell hit a solo homer in the eighth and five more runs in the eighth from the Bobcats secured a 16-5 win.
The second game of the doubleheader started with GCSU scoring two runs in the first inning and five in the third, including a two run homer from Harrell, his second of the series, setting in the score at 7-2 in favor of the Bobcats. GCSU the added three runs in the fourth. The Bobcats secured a 12-run cushion in the eight inning when they scored five runs, including a solo homer from Ward to set the score at 19-7. In the ninth inning, the Falcons attempted to catch up by scoring five runs but were unable to and the Bobcats won the second game of the series 19-12.
In the final game, Montevallo was first to take the lead when they scored two runs in the second inning and run one in the third, while the Bobcats scored two in the fourth and were trailing the Falcons 3-2. GCSU took a huge lead when they scored eight runs in the fourth inning, including two RBI hits from Harrell and Pirkle, giving the Bobcats a 10-3 edge. GCSU struck again in the sixth inning when they scored eight more runs, including a solo homer from Pirkle, to set the score at 18-6. In the ninth inning, freshman first baseman Cody Maas smashed a three-run homer over left field for a final score of 21-6 and a three-game sweep for GCSU.
“Right now we can just get better in all aspects of the game,” Pitts said. “We’re swinging well, we’re playing decent defense, but I think if we just get a little bit better in all those we can do very well.”
The Bobcats wrap up their three-game series on the road today against North Greenville.
“We just need to sharpen up our game, keep working on defense and keeping guys healthy and keeping them sharp,” Carty said. “There’s no secret formula at this point.”
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