The eighth-ranked Georgia Gwinnett baseball team continued its historic start in 2016, grabbing its 19th win of the season on Wednesday, defeating Robert Morris (Ill.) 6-2.
The game's shining moment came in the first inning when senior Sheldon Connor took the mound for his last time in a Grizzly uniform. The Duluth native and Wesleyan School graduate tore his labrum at the end of the 2015 season and underwent career-ending surgery in the off-season. The right-hander took the hill one last time for GGC on Wednesday, picked up the first out of the game and was relieved to a standing ovation from the Grizzly fans, his teammates, and the Robert Morris bench.
Connor is tied for second all-time GGC history in wins (17), has pitched the most innings in Grizzly history (180.3), and owns the best winning percentage .850 (17-3). The right-hander is also second in starts (29), second in complete games (3), and third in appearances (43).
GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl reflected on Connor's storied career, "Sheldon has been the heart and soul of this team for the past four years. He is one of the core members of our team and has been a great student, athlete and young man for the past four years. Today was a culmination of his storied career to have the opportunity to end it the way he did, going out on that mound one last time. We are happy for him to be a part of tonight's win. He's going to be a tremendous piece of this season with leadership and knowledge and will be a great alum down the road for this program."
The Grizzlies took the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Bradley. Three pitches later, center fielder Josh Merrigan smashed a double to the left-center field gap to score Trey Haygood and give the Grizzlies the 2-0 lead.
Two innings later, Georgia Gwinnett pushed across two insurance runs on a Robert Morris error and a single by right fielder Kyler Timmerman.
The Eagles (3-4) mounted a rally in the top of the seventh to pull within two, 4-2, on an RBI-single to left by Rashid Shepard and a bases-loaded walk by reliever Tyler Souris.
Georgia Gwinnett rebounded in the bottom of the seventh to gain back its four-run, 6-2 lead with a sacrifice fly by Jereid Woods and an RBI-single to right by Haygood.
Junior Michael Royal picked up the win as he went 5.2 scoreless innings for the Grizzlies, allowing just one hit while striking out two Eagles. Souris, who came on in relief in the sixth inning, pitched 2.2 innings of solid relief, striking out four batters en route to the save. RMU's Anthony Cunniff was credited with the loss.
Georgia Gwinnett returns to action on Saturday as it hosts Viterbo (Wis.) in the first game of the teams' three-game series. First pitch against the Hawks is slated for 6:00 p.m. at the Grizzly Baseball Complex. The concluding contests with the Hawks will take place on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. and Monday at 1:00 p.m.
Tickets for each game are $5 for adults, $3 for youth, seniors, and military, and free for children under five. All members of the GGC community receive free admission with their Claw Card. For more information on ticketing, click here. Free game day parking is available in the deck at the entrance to the GGC campus.
Game Day Central
Video coverage:
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ggc
Live stat links:
March 5: http://bit.ly/1QrXi1x
March 6: http://bit.ly/1pnOcsv
March 7: http://bit.ly/1LWAstk
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