Box Score

LAWRENCEVILLE - The Georgia Gwinnett offense didn't show much love for Lindenwood-Belleville's pitching staff on Saturday as the Grizzlies crossed home plate 30 times over a pair of seven-innings game to cruise to a Valentine's Day sweep of the visiting Lynx at Grizzly Baseball Complex.

The day's first game, which was scheduled for just seven innings, featured a standout pitching performance from Ryan Minteer, who became the first Grizzly pitcher to toss a complete game this season, as GGC picked up a 10-1 victory. The day's second game saw the Green and Gray bounce back from an early deficit to win 20-9 with the game being called in the seventh due to a run rule.

"I think we're starting to come around with our offensive approach," GGC Head Coach Brad Stromdahl said. "We put out the lineup today that competed well and made it hard for them to pitch to us, and that made it a lot easier on our pitching staff than it was yesterday. We just want guys to put the ball in play and compete in the strike zone, and that's what the team did today."

Michael Hodorowski led the assault in the first game as the Georgia Tech transfer ended 4-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in, and he was joined by the trio of Jamie McKnight, William Paschal and Trey Haygood, which combined to go 6-for-8 at the plate with four runs and six RBI as the team out-hit the visitors from Illinois 12-4.

"I was seeing the ball a lot better today, and I just tried to attack it," said McKnight, who ended the doubleheader 5-for-6. "I felt a lot more comfortable in the box because of that, and I think picking up these wins just helps the whole team build up that confidence, and hopefully we can take it into the rest of the season."

With the four-game sweep, the first series sweep of the season for GGC, the Grizzlies have now won five consecutive games and improved to 8-2 on the year. The Lynx fell to 0-4.

Minteer's outing proved to be the best of the season for a GGC pitcher, as he tied Alex Roberts for the longest outing of the year, tossing all seven frames and allowing just one run on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out three.

"Everything was working pretty well for me, especially my change-up and two-seamer," Minteer said. "The main thing I worked on today was getting ahead of batters. Getting those first-pitch strikes was key for me, and my tempo was definitely good too."

"Minteer was fantastic," Stromdahl said. "He competed well, put the ball in the strike zone, and really, he did exactly what we needed him to do in a four-game series. We needed our starters to compete and be able to save the bullpen while also working their pitch count up, and they did that this week."

After Minteer surrendered his lone run in the fourth, the Grizzly offense picked up steam in the fifth, beginning with leadoff singles from Marcus McCorkle and Paschal before a one-out double from Trey Haygood later in the frame handed the Grizzlies the advantage. After loading the bases, Hodorowski beat out a squeeze play to double the advantage. A wild pitch from LUB starter Zach Speckhals made it 4-1, and McKnight recorded a sacrifice fly to round out the frame's scoring.

Haygood would triple home two more runs in the sixth as GGC rode four hits and a pair of LUB errors to another five-run frame to put the game out of reach for good.

In the second meeting of the day, McKnight stayed hot, going 3-for-3 with a trio of runs, and he was helped out by Kyler Timmerman, who sent two balls sailing over the outfield fences to end 2-for-5 with five RBI and three scores. Collectively, GGC out-hit the Lynx 12-8.

GGC was once again dealt an early deficit as starter Jeremy Holcomb allowed five runs over 2.1 innings to spot the visitors a 5-3 advantage after three innings.

Things picked up in the fourth as a balk and Brian Jacobs single put the Grizzlies ahead for good. An error moments later resulted in another run, and the Green and Gray went on to score 13 runs over the game's final three frames to hit the 20-run mark for just the third time in school history.

NOTES: GGC has never lost a three- or four-game series played at Grizzly Baseball Complex ... Kyler Timmerman is now tied with Ty Abbott for the season lead in home runs with two ... Timmerman is just the second Grizzly ever to homer twice in a game, joining Robbie Payne, who accomplished the feat vs. Toccoa Falls last season ... GGC was walked 13 times in the second game, tying a school record set against Voorhees in 2014 ... Michael Hodorowski can now also join the four-hit club, tying the school-record for four hits in a game ... Saturday marked the second doubleheader that the GGC has swept this season ... The Grizzlies carry a 57-17 all-time mark at Grizzly Baseball Complex ... GGC owns a 5-1 record vs. the state of Illinois ... Previously, the Grizzlies fell 3-2 to St. Francis in the first game of the 2014 NAIA Opening Round before paying it back with an 11-8 victory two days later to knock St. Francis out of the tournament ... The Grizzlies have a 28-7 all-time record in the month of February ...GGC is 6-2 in doubleheaders this season.

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