March 15, 2013
GGC 9, OSU Lima 3
GGC 10, OSU Lima 0
Robbie Payne stayed hot with five hits over two games and the Georgia Gwinnett baseball team used complete-game performances from freshmen pitchers Sheldon Connor and Dreyvis Perez to post 9-3 and 10-0 victories Friday over Ohio State-Lima at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
Payne and Christian Van Camp each drove in three runs on the day as GGC moved to 6-0 at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
“Sheldon and Dreyvis each had outstanding outings for our team today,” said Grizzlies head coach Brad Stromdahl. “Robbie is seeing the ball really well right now and he’s had an outstanding series. Phillip Bates is doing a great job of getting hits and getting on base, just doing the things he needs to do for our team. It was a great performance offensively and on the mound.”
Game One- GGC 9, OSU Lima 3
The Grizzlies (15-6) trailed 3-2 in the fifth inning but scored the game’s final seven runs.
Connor (4-0) earned his second complete-game win in a week by striking out seven and allowing just one earned run in seven innings.
The teams went scoreless into the fourth, when Lima (2-6) pulled in front with a two-out RBI single.
The Grizzlies answered in the bottom of the inning as Sloan Strickland belted a double to score Van Camp. Angelo Lombardo’s sacrifice fly scored Strickland two batters later as GGC took a 2-1 lead.
The back-and-forth action continued as Lima took advantage of a pair of Grizzly errors in the fifth for two scores.
Georgia Gwinnett struck back with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Van Camp made it 3-3 on another sacrifice fly before Strickland drove in Payne with a single as GGC went in front once more. Justin White made it 6-3 with a two-run double and the Grizzlies tacked on a final run by taking home on a double-steal attempt.
Billy Best added GGC’s final score with a sac fly in a two-run sixth.
Game Two- GGC 10, OSU Lima 0
In his first career start, Perez allowed only two hits over five innings as the Grizzlies raced their way to a run-rule victory in five innings. The Lilburn product struck out five batters in keeping the Barons off the board.
The Grizzly offense began with four runs in the first and scored in each of the game’s five innings. Eight different players combined for nine GGC hits.
Payne tallied a game-high two hits while Eli Green and Kyle Norton each scored twice.
The Grizzly defense stayed error-free in the field behind Perez.
Payne now has a team-high 23 hits this season, including at least two in each of GGC’s last five outings.
The series wraps up Saturday with a single game at 2 p.m.
