Keyed by a stellar outing from starting pitcher Nikolay Uherek, the No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett baseball team tied a school record with its 20th-straight win on Saturday night in a 5-2 series-opening victory over Viterbo (Wis.) at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
The Grizzlies reached 20-0 on the year with the victory and tied a win streak set during the middle of the 2014 season.
Uherek fanned 11 batters and did not allow a walk over 7.0 innings on the mound to improve to 4-0 on the season. Davis Adkins contributed another strong appearance in relief, picking up his third save of the season as the Grizzlies added a pair of late scores to a game that was close throughout to secure the win.
Trey Haygood and Marcus McCorkle each had three hits to lead the GGC offense.
"It feels good to get another team win tonight," said Grizzlies head coach Brad Stromdahl. "Our pitching performance was really strong. Nikolay and Davis continue to do an outstanding job out there. Trey hit the ball well tonight and this team does a good job of competing and staying focused at the right moments."
The Georgia Gwinnett offense tallied single runs in the first, fourth and sixth innings, while Uherek held the V-Hawks (2-4) off the scoreboard until the seventh.
Josh Merrigan drove in the game's opening run in the first with a sacrifice fly to score Haygood.
Zach Rinehart doubled and scored to make it 2-0 on Trevor Bradley's RBI single in the fourth, while Merrigan made it 3-0 in the sixth with a leadoff triple and a score on McCorkle's line-drive single into left.
Viterbo answered with a pair of runs in the seventh thanks to three hits and a GGC defensive error, but Uherek finished off the inning and preserved a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, Rinehart drove in Haygood with an RBI single and later scored when McCorkle lined a single into right and held up on the base paths long enough for him to come home to make it 5-2.
Adkins, making his team-leading 11th appearance on the mound, held the V-Hawks hitless over the final two innings to preserve the win.
Georgia Gwinnett is one of two NAIA teams, along with Wayland Baptist (Texas), to reach the nation-leading 20-win mark on Saturday and is one of just a handful of squads that remains undefeated.
The Grizzlies will now go for a record-breaking 21st-straight win on Sunday when they continue their three-game series with Viterbo at 6 p.m. in Lawrenceville.
Game Day Central
Video coverage:
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ggc
Live stats links:
March 6: http://bit.ly/1pnOcsv
March 7: http://bit.ly/1LWAstk
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