The No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett baseball team finished its spectacular 2016 regular season on Saturday with a pair of victories over Talladega (Ala.) to sweep the three-game series from the Tornadoes and finish with 51 victories over 55 total games.
"It was great to stay healthy and have an incredible regular season," said Grizzlies head coach Brad Stromdahl. "Today was a great day all around."
Davis Adkins and Trevor Bradley each offered terrific starts on the mound for GGC (51-4) Saturday as the Grizzlies posted 8-1 and 11-3 victories. The pair combined to allow just two runs over 12.0 innings with nine strikeouts to improve to 12-0 and 4-0, respectively.
"Davis and Trevor did a terrific job on the mound for our team," said Stromdahl.
At the plate, six different Grizzlies posted two-hit games on the day as 17 players saw action offensively.
The victories pushed GGC to 6-0 on the year against Talladega and a stellar 37-2 on the season at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
Game 1- GGC 8, Talladega 1
After surrendering an early run, Adkins cruised on the mound for the Grizzlies, tossing a four-hit complete game in the seven-inning contest.
Josh Merrigan and Marcus McCorkle led the way with two-hit performances, driving in three runs.
The Tornadoes (20-25) struck first, opening the scoring in the top of the first with a sacrifice fly.
Georgia Gwinnett quickly jumped in front in the bottom of the inning, scoring three times with the help of singles from Trey Haygood, Merrigan and McCorkle.
The Grizzlies then launched a two-out rally in the second inning, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring four times to stretch the lead to 7-1. Brady Hamilton and William Paschal each had RBI-doubles to pace the scoring in the inning.
Chris Aichinger capped the Grizzly scoring in the sixth with a sacrifice fly to score Kyler Timmerman for the final 8-1 margin.
Adkins surrendered only one extra-base hit and did not allow a walk in the contest to earn the win.
Game 2- GGC 11, Talladega 3
In the final game of the series, it was Bradley's turn to put together a solid outing on the mound. The junior struck out five and walked just one over 5.0 innings, allowing only one run on three hits to set up the GGC victory.
The Georgia Gwinnett offense racked up 14 hits in the nine-inning contest, led by two apiece from Jereid Woods, Jabari Gayle, Michael Hodorowski and Hamilton. Bradley helped his own cause by driving in a pair of runs at the plate.
The Grizzlies once again scored in the opening inning. After a fielder's choice and a throwing error with the bases loaded made it 2-0, Hodorowski's two-run single extended the advantage to 4-0.
A sacrifice fly in the third inning put the Tornadoes on the board.
Hamilton launched a solo home run to left field to lead off the Grizzly fifth inning, giving the sophomore a team-leading eight homers on the season. That began a four-run frame which also featured a two-run double by Bradley.
Paschal scored Gayle in the sixth with an RBI-single to make it 9-1 before two unearned runs came across for Talladega in the top of the next inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Grizzlies made it 10-3 on an RBI-groundout and then an RBI-single from Gayle pushed the lead out to 11-3.
Five GGC relievers pitched the final four innings, with Jeremy Hutchison tossing a scoreless frame with two strikeouts and Austin Smith closing out the game in the ninth.
The top-ranked Grizzlies now head into the postseason with a pair of upcoming tournaments set for the Grizzly Baseball Complex in May.
First up, Georgia Gwinnett opens as the top seed in the Association of Independent Institutions championship tournament, which begins next Saturday, May 7. Three automatic berths to the NAIA national tournament are on the line for the eight-team field. The full schedule of play can be seen here.
May 17 will begin the NAIA Baseball Championships Opening Round, when the Grizzly Baseball Complex will host the Lawrenceville Bracket for the third consecutive year. The five participating teams, which will be determined after all conference tournaments have been completed, will battle for a berth in the Avista-NAIA World Series.
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