AMERICUS, Ga. — It took six innings to wake up the bats Friday night at Hurricane Stadium.
But when Georgia Southwestern did, it came all at once.
Trailing by four entering the bottom of the sixth, the Hurricanes exploded for six runs in a single frame and held off a late push to defeat Georgia College & State University 7-6 in the Peach Belt Conference series opener.
GSW improves to 9-4 overall and 4-0 in PBC play.
Early Hole, Missed Chances
The Hurricanes had traffic early but couldn't cash in.
Singles from
Drake Harman and
Drew Reaves in the second put pressure on the Bobcats, and again in the fourth the Hurricanes put two runners on with two outs. Reeves sent a deep fly ball to left in the fourth that was tracked down at the wall — a few feet shy of flipping the game.
Instead, Georgia College struck first.
Capitalizing on a third-inning error and a pair of well-placed bunts, the Bobcats plated a pair of unearned runs, three total in the inning, to grab a 3-0 lead. They added another in the fifth to stretch the margin to 4-0 as GSW continued searching for the timely hit.
The Sixth-Inning Surge
Then everything changed.
Josh McDonald opened the sixth with a single, and Harman followed with a walk.
Evan Wainman punched a base hit through the left side to load the bases, and the Hurricanes were finally poised to break through.
Edwin Melendez got things started with an RBI groundout. Reaves followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 4-2.
That set the stage for
Jacob Reeves.
After coming up just short earlier in the night, the senior shortstop left no doubt this time — launching a 356-foot home run to left field for his first homer of the season, a two-run shot that tied the game at 4-4 and ignited the Hurricane dugout.
The inning kept rolling.
Caleb Gipson worked a walk,
Kelsen Johnson followed with another, and
Devon Murphy ripped an RBI double to left-center to give GSW its first lead of the night. Moments later, a balk allowed another run to score, capping a stunning six-run frame and putting the Hurricanes ahead 6-4.
Adding Insurance
Georgia Southwestern tacked on what proved to be a crucial insurance run in the seventh.
Harman singled and later scored when Melendez delivered again, lining an RBI single through the right side to extend the lead to 7-4.
Melendez finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Harman scored twice and reached base three times. Reaves added two hits, and Johnson chipped in two of his own as GSW totaled 12 hits on the night.
Koehler Grinds, Sain Slams the Door
On the mound,
Evan Koehler battled through 7 2/3 innings to earn the win and improve to 3-0. The right-hander struck out nine and allowed just four earned runs, working around 10 hits and keeping the Bobcats within reach until the offense found its rhythm.
Georgia College mounted one final threat in the eighth, scoring twice to cut the deficit to 7-6 and bringing the tying run to the plate.
That's when
Cooper Sain entered.
The graduate righty recorded the final four outs, including a clean ninth inning capped by a strikeout, to secure his second save of the season and preserve the one-run victory.
Next Up
The Hurricanes entertain GCSU for Game 2 of the weekend series on Saturday at noon.
