Feb. 28, 2014

GGC 6, USCB 1

On a night when the Grizzlies helped Strike Out Heart Disease with Gwinnett Medical Center, junior Alex Roberts struck out a season-high nine batters to lead the Georgia Gwinnett Baseball team to a 6-1 victory over the University of South Carolina Beaufort on Friday night in the teams’ series-opener in Lawrenceville.

The win gave the Grizzlies (15-3) their ninth-straight victory, while the loss dropped USC Beaufort to 9-6.

Roberts (4-0) picked up his team-leading fourth win of the season after allowing only one run on three hits and five walks over 6.0 innings.

Six runs in the second inning was all the Grizzlies needed to earn the victory as GGC finished with a slim 5-4 advantage in hits on the night.

GGC batted around in the sixth and had three hits in the frame, including a three-run triple by Ty Abbott.

Philip Bates drove in the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly that allowed Sloan Strickland to come home. Jereid Woods then hit an RBI single to drive in William Pascal. Antonio Allen came around to score on a throwing error by the Sand Shark third baseman.

After loading the bases on a single and two walks in the seventh inning, the Sand Sharks scored their lone run on a sacrifice fly. The Grizzly bullpen was then able to get three outs to strand the bases loaded and preserve the cushion.

Andy Threat, Tyler Carpenter and Zeke McGranahan all worked out of the Grizzly bullpen, allowing only one hit between them over the final three innings.

The two teams will finish their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday at the Grizzly Baseball Complex, starting at noon. GGC will look to match last year’s 10-game winning streak, which stands as the program’s best.