March 22, 2013
Box Score
Junior Christian Van Camp belted a three-run home run in the third inning and came on to earn a save on the mound in the ninth as the Georgia Gwinnett baseball team won its 10th straight game with a 5-4 victory at NCAA Division III foe Covenant College Friday afternoon in Lookout Mountain, Ga.
The Grizzlies (19-6) built a 5-0 lead and used eight strong innings from freshman starter Sheldon Connor to snap an eight-game winning streak for the Scots (15-4).
Robbie Payne had two of GGC’s seven hits, including a double, to continue a 13-game hitting streak.
The Scots scored three times in the ninth inning before the Grizzly defense ended the game with a double play and a pickoff of the game-tying run.
Van Camp earned his first save of the season in relief of Connor, who struck out seven batters to improve to 5-0.
“Sheldon Connor got us the win today as he was outstanding and really competed,” said Grizzlies head coach Brad Stromdahl. “We also did a great job of competing against a good pitcher on their side. It was nice to overcome and win this game.”
The Grizzlies strung together a two-out rally in the third to break a scoreless tie. After Antonio Allen singled and Payne was hit by a pitch, Pat Long drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single. Van Camp then stepped to the plate and made it 4-0 with a three-run shot to right-center field, his first home run of the season.
Georgia Gwinnett tacked on a run in the fifth when Payne singled and scored on a groundout by Van Camp, who drove in four of GGC’s five runs.
The Scots scored once in the sixth before cutting the deficit to one in the ninth on RBI hits from Perry Rigby and Paul Phillips.
Phillip Bates and Sloan Strickland added hits for GGC, which improved to 10-6 on the road this year.
The Grizzlies and Scots continue their series with two games on Saturday at the Grizzly Baseball Complex in Lawrenceville, beginning at 4 p.m.
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