The Georgia College & State University Bobcats baseball team lit up the scoreboard in the two-game doubleheader against Lynn University on Friday, Feb. 14, outscoring the Fighting Knights 18-5 in the two-game series opener.
Junior pitcher John Luke Glanton started on the mound for the Bobcats for game one while the Fighting Knights sent out freshman Justyn Hart.
Both pitchers worked quickly in the first innings. However, GCSU struck first in the bottom of the second for a pair of runs.
The Bobcats put runners on first and second via a walk and a fielding error by the third baseman. Junior infielder Gabe Wuerth, who struggled to open the season, drove them home fast with a double to the left-center gap.
“I thought as a team collectively we hit the ball pretty well today,” Wuerth said. “We kept scrapping and found a way to pull it out.”
GCSU tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the third, once again taking advantage of an error by Lynn. Senior infielder Matthew Mebane scored a pair of runs by a combination of errors by the third baseman and catcher, while junior outfielder Evan Cowan and Wuerth singled to each drive in a run.
Three more for the Bobcats came across the plate at the bottom of the fourth, with a big blast by junior outfielder Carson Phillips, which traveled 388 feet, and sophomore outfielder Charlie Banks followed up an inning later with his home run, a solo shot straight down the line, a few feet from the foul pole.
Phillips singled for an RBI later, scoring junior infielder Ben Hamacher to bring his RBI total to four and scoring the Bobcats’ eleventh and final run of the first game.
Glanton collected the win for GCSU on six shutout innings with five hits while striking out four batters.
Senior pitcher Mason Brown started game two for the Bobcats, while pitcher Austin Barnao did the same for the Fighting Knights. Barnao only lasted an inning and a third for Lynn, as GCSU jumped off to a quick one-run lead in the first inning from an RBI single by Cowan and then tacked on five in the second inning.
The Bobcats sent the entire lineup to the plate in the bottom of the second, loading up the bases quickly, and sophomore first baseman Braeden Smith sent two home on a single to the right side. Phillips and Mebane followed that with consecutive RBI singles, and Cowan scored another via a fielder’s choice to plate the fifth run of the inning.
Throughout the rest of the game, each team added a run to their total with an RBI single.
“I thought I threw the ball pretty well today—kept my team in the game and gave us a chance to win,” Brown said. “I’m glad I had everyone’s trust behind me. It gives me the confidence to go out there and do my job.”
Brown left the game after seven innings of one-run baseball, striking out a pair and giving up only five hits.
Freshman pitcher Brian Lowry came out of the pen in relief. However, a Lynn batter came out of the gates with a home run to right-centerfield.
Lynn took advantage of a duo of errors and a hit by pitch from Lowry, scoring two runs in to begin the ninth, and scored another on a double.
The Fighting Knights had the tying run up to bat with two outs in the inning when coach Nolan Belcher played his hand to a relief pitcher and reigning Peach Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week, senior pitcher Will Sims, who blew a fastball right past the batter to close out the game and collect the save.