The No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett baseball team had a very eventful afternoon at the Grizzly Baseball Complex in Lawrenceville, capturing victories in the first two games of its four-game series against No. 11 Keiser (Fla.).
The Grizzlies (32-1) squeaked by with a 9-8 walk-off victory in game one, but powered to a 12-3 win in game two fueled by the momentum of the opener's heroics.
"Our guys did a great job of hanging in there, believing in each other, and capitalizing on key opportunities when it mattered most," stated GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl. "I'm proud of the way we fought back today after being down."
Georgia Gwinnett trailed the Seahawks throughout game one. Keiser (26-8) struck first in the top of the third, scoring the first run of the game on a fielder's choice by catcher Brad Myott. Two innings later, the Seahawks pushed their advantage to 3-0 with a grounder by third baseman Jake Curtis and an RBI-double by first baseman Tyler Goff.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Grizzlies would score their first run of the day on an RBI-single by third baseman William Paschal. Previously, first baseman Zac Rinehart reached on a double to left, and scored on Paschal's hit.
Keiser pushed its gap to 6-1 in the top of the sixth. With two outs in the inning, center fielder Dylan Dore singled to center and designated hitter Keivan Berges walked to put two Seahawks on base. Two pitches later, Myott drove a three-run home run over the right field fence to put Keiser ahead 6-1.
The Grizzlies fought back and slowly chipped into the Keiser lead, tying the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth. Center fielder Josh Merrigan drove in the fourth Grizzly run with a sacrifice fly while a two-run triple by Paschal scored the tying run.
The Seahawks regained the 8-6 lead in the top of the ninth against reliever Davis Adkins, but the tide turned in the bottom frame as the Grizzlies came to the plate facing their final three outs of the game.
With one out in the inning, Coach Stromdahl sent pinch hitter Brady Hamilton to the plate. Hamilton wasted no time, crushing the first pitch that he saw an estimated 380 feet over the left-center field fence to bring the Grizzlies within one, 8-7. The rally continued moments later when Haygood singled to right.
Berges, who moved from designated hitter to relief pitcher in the ninth, hurled a wild pitch to the backstop, allowing Haygood to advance to third after he previously stole second base. Second baseman Jereid Woods then walked to put runners on the corners as Merrigan stepped to the plate. Merrigan sliced a grounder to short that was bobbled and then kicked past second base, allowing Haygood to score the tying run and Woods to advance to second. The magic continued for the Grizzlies as Rinehart lifted the first pitch he saw from Berges to shallow right field, scoring Woods for the walk-off 9-8 victory.
Game two featured an offensive assault by the Grizzlies en route to the 12-3 win. Both Rinehart and Merrigan went 3-for-3 in the night cap as the Grizzlies scored at least one run in each inning but the third.
GGC starter Will Solomon captured his seventh win of the season, going six and one-thirds innings. The left-handed hurler struck out 11 batters, surrendering just two runs on six hits.
The same two teams meet again on Saturday as they wrap up their four-game set with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
Tickets for Saturday's games 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
Live Video coverage, starting 15 minutes prior to First Pitch, provided by the Grizzly Digital Network:
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ggc/
Live stats links:
Game 1: http://bit.ly/1nXibpO
Game 2: http://bit.ly/1pSOQOO
For all the latest on Grizzly Athletics, including news, scores and features, visit GrizzlyAthletics.com. Check out all the latest Grizzly Baseball content and join the conversation by using #GGCBaseball on Twitter.
