The No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett baseball team pulled out a heroic 10-9 victory over No. 19 Northwestern Ohio on Sunday as catcher Jean Paul Rodriguez lifted a walk-off RBI-single to left field in the 11th inning for the Grizzlies' 16th win of the season.
With the victory, Georgia Gwinnett (16-5) captured the season series against the Racers, taking two out of the three contests.
"Our guys did a great job not giving up today when our backs were against the wall," said GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl. "We made some defensive mistakes that put us in a bind, but our patience, perseverance, and never-quit attitude held us in check down the stretch. Jean Paul really made the most of his late-inning at-bats."
Georgia Gwinnett jumped on the board first in the opening inning of play, taking a 3-0 lead with an RBI-single by second baseman Marcus McCorkle, a wild pitch by UNOH's starter Mike Alexander, and a passed ball to the backstop.
The Racers (17-10) responded with a three-run second to tie the game at 3-3. Blake Maines made it 3-1 with a liner to the mound while a two-run double by Jonathan Rodriguez knotted the game at 3-3.
The contest remained at 3-3 until the bottom of the fifth when an RBI-single to left-center by right fielder Jean Figueroa gave GGC the 4-3 lead. Georgia Gwinnett went on to score a run in each of the next three innings to push its gap to 7-3.
Facing its potential final three outs of the game, Northwestern Ohio rallied to score six runs in the top of the ninth, taking advantage of a GGC throwing error and fielding miscue for the 9-7 lead.
The Grizzlies loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and moved within one run, 9-8, when third baseman Deion Sellers walked to score GGC's eighth run of the contest. Seconds later, Rodriguez connected for his first of two clutch hits of the contest, lifting a sacrifice fly to deep center field to score first baseman Brady Hamilton from third.
Two innings later with the game tied at 9-9, Rodriguez connected for an RBI-single to left, driving in Hamilton from third, for the 10-9 walk-off victory.
GGC's Stone Kelly (4-0) received the win, working a scoreless tenth inning. Northwestern Ohio's Abrahan Flete was credited with the loss, surrendering the game-winning run in the 11th.
Next, the Grizzlies will host Madonna (Mich.) and No. 1 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Thursday at 3:00 and 7:00 p.m., respectively. GGC will play host to a four-day round-robin series that will also feature Indiana Tech.
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