Baseball sweeps North Georgia, falls to ODU

No. 1 Bobcats open Peach Belt schedule with three key wins over Saints, 14-game win streak snapped in loss to Panthers

The No.1 ranked Georgia College baseball team saw its 14-game winning streak come to an end against Ohio Dominican University on March 8, but not before sweeping a crucial road series over the previous two days against North Georgia College & State University to open up its 2011 conference schedule.

The Bobcats picked up the first win on March 6, 4-2.

Senior lefty Jason Nicholas picked up the win on the mound, allowing two runs over five innings, while redshirt senior righthander Ryan Parson threw three scoreless innings, and fellow redshirt senior righty Tanner Moore closed out the ninth for his team-high fifth save of the season. After a scoreless opening three innings, Georgia College jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Redshirt junior first baseman Benton Yaun’s RBI single scored senior catcher Richard Pirkle to open the scoring. Redshirt junior third baseman Travis Echols followed with an RBI single of his own, and freshman second baseman Matthew Robinson’s double plated Yaun. North Georgia cut the lead to 3-2 in their half of the fifth, but the Bobcats added an insurance run in the eighth when sophomore designated hitter Ikaika Anderson walked with two outs, and later scored on a throwing error.

Georgia College picked up two more victories, sweeping a doubleheader against the Saints on March 7. The first game was back and forth, but Robinson was the hero of the day, belting his first career home run in the ninth to give the Bobcats a 7-6 win. Robinson got the start in place of junior regular Luke McKay, who was out due to illness.

“It’s great for the team to get those kinds of contributions off the bench and from the younger guys,” Head Coach Tom Carty said.

The Bobcats had to rally in the second game but came out on top, 11-6 to complete the sweep. Down 5-4 in the fifth, Pirkle led off with a walk and later stole second and scored on an RBI double by Echols. Robinson immediately followed that with a double to make it a 6-5 game. Georgia College went up 7-5 in the sixth when senior rightfielder Shawn Ward’s single scored Yaun. Redshirt junior righthander Chris George pitched 6.1 innings in relief and allowed only one run, picking up the win and improving to 2-0 on the year.

“We did some good things in the series,” Carty said. “It wasn’t perfect, but the guys were able to do enough to win the ballgames. It’s always important to win series in your conference.”

With their pitching resources nearly exhausted from the North Georgia series, the Bobcats were a bit shorthanded in their 11-3 loss to Ohio Dominican on March 8. Georgia College jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, when junior centerfielder Patrick Daugherty led off with a double and later scored on a triple over the centerfielder’s head by Ward. The Panthers, however, put a four-spot on the board in the top of the second and never looked back.

“We ran into a team that plays good baseball and they just outpitched us,” Carty said. “We seemed to lack energy throughout the game, but we talked to the guys about it, and hopefully, the best thing we can do is learn from it.”

Georgia College (17-3, 3-0 PBC) returns to action this weekend at Augusta State.