The Georgia Southwestern baseball team scored three runs in the
ninth inning to take game 1 of their weekend series with Flagler
College in dramatic fashion, 12-11, on Friday evening at Hurricane
Stadium.
GSW improves to 17-7 overall and 7-3 in PBC play. The 'Canes are
11-1 at home this season.
The visiting Saints led 4-0 after the first inning and 6-0
heading to the bottom of the fourth. That's when GSW made
their first rally of the contest.
The Hurricanes scored six runs on seven hits and the team hit
for the cycle in the inning. Trent Dooley, Paschel Poston, Kevin
Carroll and Shane Doyle collected singles. Chris Lingham doubled,
Zack Stanton had an RBI triple and Byron Haynes belted a two-run
home run.
With three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth, Flagler
had regained the lead and extended the margin to 11-6.
Southwestern chipped at the lead in the seventh with a three-run
frame. Haynes started the inning with a double. Doyle added an RBI
single and Bud Long drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Hurricane reliever Brandon Reeder set Flagler down in order in
the eighth and ninth, striking out five of six batters faced along
the way.
That set the stage for the Hurricanes game-winning rally in the
ninth. Carroll and Jared Allen opened the inning with a pair of
singles. Doyle laid down a sacrifice bunt that was fielded by the
FC third baseman and thrown over the head of the first baseman and
rolled deep into right field foul territory. Carroll and Allen
scored; Doyle ended up at third. After Lingham was intentionally
walked, Heath Lock brought the winning run across on a sacrifice
fly to right.
Reeder (2-0) tossed 4.1 innings of relief to pick up the win.
Reeder held Flagler to four hits, allowed two runs, walked one and
struck out eight.
Tyler McKendree (1-2) entered in the ninth for Flagler and
suffered the loss after allowing two hits and the three unearned
runs.
Kevin Carroll led GSW at the plate with a 4-for-5 performance.
Carroll knocked in a run and scored three times. Haynes, Poston and
Doyle had two hits apiece.
The Hurricanes wraps up the series with Flagler (17-12, 5-5 PBC)
on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m.
