Box Score

LAWRENCEVILLE - A four-run sixth inning proved to be the difference on a frigid Tuesday afternoon at Grizzly Baseball Complex as visiting Truett-McConnell was able to hold on late to win 4-3 over Georgia Gwinnett, snapping the school's five-game winning streak.

The Grizzlies (8-3), which actually tallied 10 hits on the day, weren't able to string them together at the right time, pushing across a single run in the first, sixth and eighth innings. The team was led by a 3-for-4 outing from William Paschal, and both Kyler Timmerman and Arsenio Watlington ended with a pair of hits, with the latter scoring all three Grizzly runs.

Casey Collins made the most of his time on the mound for the Green and Gray, and he was the most impressive of the six who toed the rubber in the scheduled staff day. Collins started and faced the minimum over the opening three innings, striking out six and allowing just one hit.

Joseph Boatright and Josh Mullis took over in his stead, allowing 10 hits. Mullis was pegged with the loss after conceding all four runs. The trio of Jeremy Holcomb, Jovanni Cruz and Davis Adkins closed out the game, holding the Bears scoreless over the final 3.1 frames.

Watlington drew first blood after leading off the bottom of the first with a walk. The senior out of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, stole second and moved just 90 feet from home after an errant throw from TMC catcher Tate Gaines. A Trey Haygood groundout would push him across.

After stranding the bases loaded in both the fourth and fifth innings, the Bears broke through with an Andrew Fogarty double to take the lead. Singles from both Trenton Little and Peyton Fore increased the lead to 4-1 before Holcomb induced a groundball to get out of the inning.

TMC (6-5) finished the day with 15 hits, led by a four-hit day from Fore.

Watlington reached base on a bunt in the bottom half of the frame, and he would later score on a Timmerman single through the left side to cut the lead to two. Watlington also singled and scored on a Jake Wright double in the eighth. The game-tying run was stranded on second in the ninth as GGC dropped its first game since Feb. 7.

GGC will return to action later this week as eighth-ranked Georgetown will make the trek from Kentucky to play at Grizzly Baseball Complex. The series is slated to begin on Friday at 3 p.m.

NOTES: The Grizzlies carry a 57-18 all-time mark at Grizzly Baseball Complex ... The Grizzlies have a 28-8 all-time record in the month of February ... GGC is 24-24 all-time vs. the state of Georgia ... The Grizzlies went 12-4 vs. fellow state schools last season.

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