Feb. 19, 2013

GGC 9, Point 2

Junior Robbie Payne drove in four runs and freshman Frank Warren yielded just one hit and one unearned run in his first start as the Georgia Gwinnett baseball team took out Point University by a 9-2 score Tuesday in West Point, Ga.

The win- the Grizzlies’ first in the state of Georgia- moves GGC to 6-1 on the year and drops the NAIA Skyhawks to 4-5.

Payne, Jereid Woods and Christian Van Camp each had two hits on the day as a four-run fifth inning sparked the victory.

“It was great team performance today against a tough opponent,” said GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl. “We got a lot of guys some good experience.”

Warren (1-0) kept the Skyhawks off the board through four innings, recording four strikeouts and surrendering just one infield hit as GGC led 1-0 entering the fifth.

Woods drew a walk with the bases loaded in the fifth to make it 2-0, then Payne cleared them with a double to the gap in right-center for a 5-0 advantage.

Point climbed on the board in the bottom of the inning before the teams traded runs in the sixth.

Payne and Pat Long each drove in runs in the seventh inning as GGC extended its lead, then a defensive error in the eighth accounted for the Grizzlies’ final score.

Joe Albertson, Dreyvis Perez, Van Camp and Austin Smith each pitched an inning of relief for the Grizzlies, the last three scoreless. The pitching staff combined to hold the Skyhawks to just four hits on the day.

“Frank Warren was awesome today,” Stromdahl added. “He threw extremely well and it was a great start for our team. We also got some guys in who hadn’t pitched as much yet. Overall, our pitching was outstanding, I very happy with the way we competed and put the ball in the strike zone.”

Antonio Allen and Phillip Bates each scored a pair of runs for the Grizzlies.

Georgia Gwinnett returns to action Friday, starting a three-game set at Reinhardt University at 4 p.m.