Baseball now ranked No. 1

Bobcats win streak at 11 after sweeping Philadelphia U., rolling past Benedict

After winning 11 consecutive games, the Georgia College Bobcats baseball team (14-2) is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The Bobcats continued to dominated offensively and pitch lights out, sweeping  Philadelphia University last weekend and then beating Benedict College on March 1.  The Bobcats are still undefeated at home with a 10-0 mark.

Last weekend the Bobcats had a four-game sweep against Philadelphia, totally dominating them, 76-8 over the span of four games.

“The season has been good so far; we have a lot of work to do and we’ve been waiting on conference for about four weeks now, “ senior rightfielder Shawn Ward said. “We have older guys keeping people focused, and that has helped us get several key wins this season so far.”

On Feb. 25, the Bobcats started off the four game series beating the Rams by a football-like score, 24-0. This series was the first set of games for the Rams.

Philadelphia’s four pitchers gave up 11 walks in total, and in just the third inning alone, the Bobcats had 17 hits and scored 11 runs . This was the start of Bobcat domination out on the field this past weekend. To start off the series, senior lefty pitcher Jason Nicholas had 13 strikeouts, only allowing two singles in his six innings pitching before sophomore Michael Jeanes came in for the last three innings,  striking out four players and allowing  no hits.

It was a hit-fest, with many players contributing. Going 3-4 with three runs and six RBI’s,  junior shortstop Tanner Funk played well alongside sophomore  leftfielder Ikaika Anderson, who hit a three-run home run as part of a 3-for-5 performance, driving in four and scoring three times. Junior leftfielder Josh Young drove in five on a 2-for-5 day, scoring three times, and junior centerfielder Patrick Daugherty was 2-for-4 with four runs scored and an RBI.

The Bobcats continued their luck as they went on to embarrass the Rams again in a Feb. 26 doubleheader, winning the first game 18-4 and then cruising to a 26-0 shutout.

Georgia College attacked and dominated early, starting off the game with a 9-0 lead in the first inning and never looking back, ending the game with 10 hits and 18 runs overall. Senior pitcher Eric Pettepher went the first six innings, striking out four and only allowing one earned run on four hits. Patrick Daugherty scored three times for the Bobcats, while  Senior right fielder Shawn Ward went 3-for-7 with four RBI and had three runs, and redshirt junior third baseman Travis Echols drove in a pair himself.

Saturday’s second game was the most runs that Georgia College has scored this season and the most  in the last four years since 2007.

Daugherty and Echols were having a great Saturday and once again were big players in the second game.

Daugherty went a perfect  5-for-5, scoring 5 runs and seven RBI, while Echols had his first home run since being on a NCAA Division II team,  scoring three runs knocking home four and going 4-for-5.

Redshirt sophomore lefty pitcher Mike Guinane improved to  4-0, pitching for four innings, striking out eight and allowing only one hit. Also, Redshirt junior first baseman Benton Yaun, Funk, Ward Anderson each had two hits.

“I feel like our competition hasn’t been good but we’ve got some competition coming up. We have a lot ahead and we need to keep a level head,” Yaun said.

Yet again, the Bobcats were successful and beat the Rams on Feb. 27, 8-4. The Bobcats scored in each of the first five innings, opening up a 7-2 lead and once again held strong.

Redshirt junior righty Chris George pitched his first career victory, throwing the game’s first five innings and striking out seven players while allowing only two runs and three hits before redshirt senior Ryan Parson pitched an inning. Junior Second baseman Luke McKay had his first home run at Georgia College in the fifth.

Once again Ward was a key hitter for the team, hitting his first home run of the season, finishing with two RBI, scoring three runs and going 3-for-4.

Scoring twice and driving in one, while going 2-for-5, sophomore leftfielder Ikaika Anderson also hit a home run for the Bobcats.

“We have to continue to try to get better. It’s  tough to learn in lopsided wins and we’ve had that lately and have kind of gotten sloppy, “ Head Coach Tom Carty said. “…we need to keep working at practice; it won’t be easy.”

The Bobcats pulled yet another win, beating Benedict 16-3 on March 1.

Scoring 13 runs in the first inning set the tone for the rest of the game for the Bobcats, who then scored their final 3 runs in the third inning.

“We work hard at practice. The coaches always have things for us to do so we are always prepared for the next thing” Anderson said.

The Bobcats play three games this weekend at North Georgia and then March 8 against Ohio Dominican at John Kurtz Field at 4 p.m.