LAWRENCEVILLE - It was a game of momentum swings at Grizzly Baseball Complex on Tuesday night, and it was Jereid Woods who ultimately sent his Georgia Gwinnett teammates hurdling out of the dugout in the 10th as the junior brought home the winning run in a 5-4 walk-off victory over top-ranked Faulkner.
"It was a great game tonight," GGC Head Coach Brad Stromdahl said. "We're two very evenly matched teams, and it's great for our program and our kids to get a win over a team like Faulkner. It proves to them that they can play at the highest level in the country. I'm very proud of the guys for going out tonight and competing so well against a very good team."
With the win, the sixth-ranked Grizzlies improved to 38-8 on the year, and Faulkner dropped to 38-9.
The 10th-inning rally began with consecutive singles from Ty Abbott and Kyler Timmerman, and a one-out single from Hodorowski set the stage for Woods, who put the ball in play towards Faulkner shortstop Edgar Figueroa. Unfortunately for the Eagles, he was unable to field it cleanly as Ernesto Vazquez, who came on to run for Abbott, touched home to bring the game to an end.
Abbott, Timmerman and Hodorowski combined for seven of GGC's 12 hits in the contest, and Woods ended the night 1-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in.
However, the Grizzly pitching staff may have played the biggest role in setting up the rally as relievers Andy Threatt, Ryan Minteer and Christian Turnipseed combined to strike out 10 over the game's final five innings to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard. Turnipseed, who picked up the decision to move to 4-0 on the season, struck out all six batters he faced.
Alex Roberts made the start on the mound for GGC, ending the day with four runs (three earned) on three hits and six walks, striking out four in the process. The senior would surrender an unearned run in the second and leave the mound in line for the victory in the sixth.
Timmerman started the Grizzly comeback in the bottom of the second, leading off with a walk, and then scoring on a Woods two-out double to tie the game. Trey Haygood followed up in the ensuing at-bat by depositing a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left field, which marked his first-ever collegiate home run and handed the Green and Gray a 3-1 advantage.
"I wasn't trying to do too much because I know that speed is my main asset," Haygood said. "The home run was kind of an accident. I tried to be simple, but I got the barrel on it and it went over. It was almost overwhelming to see it go out, and with everybody screaming, it was a great experience."
Haygood finished the day 2-for-4 at the plate.
Things would get equally dramatic in the fourth as Hodorowski doubled before moving 90 feet from home on a Christian Torres wild pitch. Moments later, he'd catch everyone by surprise by stealing home to make it 4-1. It marked the second time in three games that the Kennesaw native had scored on a stolen base.
The sixth brought momentum back to Faulkner's side as Roberts walked the bases loaded before ceding the mound to Threatt, who would pick up the three outs, but not without allowing the Eagles to tie it up first. Things would seem equally as dicey for Threatt an inning later when the visitors from Montgomery once again loaded the bases with no outs, but the senior responded emphatically, notching back-to-back strikeouts before inducing a ground out to keep things level.
"I knew I probably had to get a couple strikeouts," Threatt said. "I just really needed to focus and throw strikes to make sure that we could stay in the game. This is a big confidence-builder for us, and tonight was a great team win over a really good team. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling."
From there, Turnipseed and Minteer recorded nine consecutive outs to close out the game, including eight via strikeout.
GGC will return to action later this week as the team hits the road for Mississippi for a three-game set with Tougaloo, beginning Friday.
