LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The No. 3-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team opened the final home stand of the regular season by sweeping a doubleheader against Talladega College (Ala.) with 11-3 and 9-3 victories Wednesday evening at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
Sophomore Cam Coursey paced the Grizzlies’ offense by collecting seven hits, scoring four runs and having four RBI between the two games. He went 4-for-4 at the plate and scored three runs in the first contest.
GGC (38-10), who had lost its last two games in midweek action, used a pair of three-run innings in the first and sixth frames to build a 9-2 advantage in the opener.
Then, the team scored at least one run in each of the first five innings of the nightcap to complete the sweep.
The team recorded 12 hits in both games.
Senior pitcher Jonathan McKinney scattered four hits across six innings of the first game to improve to 7-2 on the season. Junior Pedro Garcia had six strikeouts in the second contest to pick up the victory.
Turning Point
GGC had an answer for every time Talladega’s offense would score. This would prevent the Tornadoes from building any momentum in either game. In the first game, Talladega scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to close within 6-2. However, the home team answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding 9-2 lead. In the second contest, Talladega scored single runs in the third and fourth innings. Each time the Grizzlies responded with runs of their own and took a 5-2 lead going into the fifth inning.
Key Plays
First Game
Bottom of First
Brody Wofford hit a two-run triple to open the scoring
Bottom of Third
Gabe Austin connected on a two-run double to extend the lead to 5-0
Bottom of Fourth
Cam Coursey hit a double to drive home a run
Second Game
Bottom of First
Brody Wofford connected on a RBI single to bring home Cam Coursey
Bottom of Second
Brandon Frazier hit a sacrifice fly to give the home team a 2-0 lead
Bottom of Third
Gabe Austin’s infield single brought home Nick Barnes as GGC scored a run for the third straight inning
Bottom of Fifth
Brenton Burgess hit a squeeze bunt to score Ali LaPread, giving GGC a 6-1 lead
Cam Coursey hit a run-scoring single to bring home Brandon Frazier
Inside The Numbers
- The Grizzlies collected 12 hits in both games of the doubleheader
- Sophomore Cam Coursey went 7-for-8 at the plate, scored four runs and had four RBI
- GGC pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts between the two games
- The team picked off three Talladega baserunners
News & Notes
- GGC improves to 38-10 on the season; Talladega stands 22-20 this spring
- Georgia Gwinnett College is No. 3 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll
- Wednesday’s doubleheader began a five-game home stand to conclude the regular season
- GGC and Talladega will compete in the 2019 Association of Independent Institutions Baseball Championship tournament held at GGC from May 4-7
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College will honor its 12 seniors on Senior Day before a 6 p.m. game on Saturday, April 27, against the University of South Carolina Beaufort. That opens the final three-game series of the regular season.