Baseball sweeps Pfeiffer, tops Valdosta

A snapshot of the Georgia College baseball team at this point and the season compared to one at this point last season yields one major difference: the Bobcats are pitching lights out so far in 2011. The latest effort was a group one as the Bobcats picked up a 3-1 road win at Valdosta State, improving to 9-2 on the year, extending their win streak to six games.

“We’ve gotten some great starts from our guys. Eric (Pettepher) and Jason (Nicholas) are both veterans for us, and our guys are getting us to the fifth and sixth innings with a chance to win, and that’s an important thing,” Head Coach Tom Carty said. “We strive to do that every game, and we are well ahead of where we were last year at this point, which is a good thing.”

Down 1-0 to the Blazers in the fifth inning, the Bobcats tied the score up, when redshirt sophomore designated hitter Ikaikah Anderson was hit by a pitch, stole second and third base and came into score on junior leftfielder Josh Young’s sacrifice fly.

The Bobcats broke the 1-1 tie in the eighth when senior rightfielder Shawn Ward led off with a walk and later scored on a bases loaded walk by redshirt-junior third baseman Travis Echols. The Bobcats added an insurance run in the ninth, when Ward singled to center, scoring Anderson to make it 3-1. Redshirt senior righthander Ryan Parson picked up the win for Georgia College after entering the game in the fourth and pitching 2.2 innings. Redshirt senior righty Tanner Moore pitched the final two innings scoreless to pick up his third save of the year.

Last weekend, the Bobcats swept a three-game home series against Pfeiffer. The Bobcats took the first game on Feb. 18, 8-3 thanks to some key extra base hits. Up 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning, senior catcher Richard Pirkle and junior shortstop Tanner Funk drew back-to-back two out walks. Junior first baseman Benton Yaun then followed with a mammoth three-run blast to stretch their lead to 5-1.

Georgia College scored two more in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Nicholas, the senior southpaw, picked up the win, scattering 10 hits and allowing 3 runs over 5.2 innings. Parson closed out the final 3.1 innings for his first save of the season.

The Bobcats continued their successful ways on Feb. 19, as they jumped out to a big lead early and rolled to an 11-3 victory. The Bobcats had 14 hits in the game, nine of which were doubles. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, Yaun continued his hot hitting with a double to the wall, clearing the bases and putting the Bobcats on top 3-0. Georgia College added pairs of runs in both the second and third and continued to pour runs on throughout. Senior rightfielder Shawn Ward went 3-4 with a pair of doubles and 5 RBI, while redshirt junior third baseman Travis Echols added a pair of hits. Pettepher, the senior righthander, went 8 innings, allowing three runs.

The Bobcats finished off the sweep on Feb. 20 behind another solid pitching performance, this time from sophomore lefty Mike Guinane, who went 7 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 8 hits with 4 strikeouts in a 5-2 win. Redshirt senior righthander Tanner Moore pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his second save on the year.

“The defense really came together behind me. (Pirkle) worked really well with me throughout the game,” Guinane said.” “When they tied the game, the club battled back and got me some more runs. I knew that once we got that going, we could win the game.”

The Bobcats drew first blood in their half of the first, when a two-out single from Funk scored junior left fielder Josh Young to make it 1-0. They stretched their cushion to 2-0 in the second when sophomore designated hitter Cody Maas homered to lead off the inning. Pfeiffer tied the game in the third, but the Bobcats regained the lead in their half of the fifth and then added two more in the sixth after junior second baseman Luke McKay’s reached on a sacrifice bunt and error that brought in Yaun. Three batters later, Ward was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded bringing in junior pinch runner Jim Moreland to make it 5-2.

“It was a good early season weekend for us. We pitched really well, and we hit the ball around a lot,” Carty said. “Mike labored a bit today, but he bounced back and figured it out and wound up pitching a solid game.”

The Bobcats resume play this weekend, hosting Philadelphia University in a four game series, beginning Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.

“We are playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Guinane said. “Things are clicking. We just need to make sure not to get overconfident and work hard.”