March 28, 2014

GGC 13, Emmanuel 2

Update: Due to inclement weather, Saturday's doubleheader at Emmanuel has been moved to Sunday in Franklin Springs, Ga., at 3 p.m.

The Georgia Gwinnett baseball team belted 15 hits, including eight doubles, to deliver a 13-2 series-opening win over Emmanuel (Ga.) on Friday evening in Lawrenceville.

Senior Sloan Strickland had eight total bases with his first home run of the season and a pair of doubles. Jake Fields also doubled twice and had three hits.

Meanwhile, Grizzlies starter Alex Roberts scattered nine hits and allowed just two runs over 7.0 innings to improve to 5-1 on the year.

The Grizzlies improved to 31-5 overall and 25-4 in Lawrenceville. Emmanuel fell to 12-20.

Georgia Gwinnett struck first in the first inning when Strickland launched a two-out, three-run homer to left field, his first long ball of the year to make it 3-0 GGC.

GGC added to its lead with three runs in the third inning. Fields tripled home Phillip Bates, then scored on a single from Ty Abbott. Abbott later scored on a groundout as GGC extended its lead to 6-0.

The Grizzlies scored on a dropped fly ball in the fourth before Emmanuel climbed on the board with a two-out RBI triple in the fifth inning.

With the score 7-2 in the sixth, Fields and Robbie Payne each knocked two-out RBI doubles to give GGC a 9-2 lead.

Strickland led off the bottom of the seventh with his second double of the game and later scored on a sacrifice fly from John Fidanza.

GGC completed its scoring in the eighth. After a hit-by-pitch and a double from Jamie McKnight, the Grizzlies scored twice more on Kyle Norton’s two-run double. William Paschal added an RBI single for the final margin.

Brandon MacKinnon pitched a scoreless eighth inning before giving way to Adam Clark’s first appearance, where the GGC junior added another scoreless frame to finish off the win.