The 14th-ranked Georgia Gwinnett baseball team used 13 hits in just seven innings of play on Tuesday afternoon to upset No. 6 Tennessee Wesleyan in a 14-2 run-rule victory at the Jack Bowling Baseball Field in Athens, Tenn.
With Tuesday's victory, the Grizzlies sweep the season series against the Bulldogs (2-0) also winning their meeting with TWU in Lawrenceville on February 22 in what was GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl's 200th career victory.
"Today was a good win for our team versus a highly-competitive opponent in Tennessee Wesleyan," said Stromdahl. "Nikolay [Uherek] pitched like we need him to and got back on track."
Georgia Gwinnett (33-18) opened the contest with an 8-0 lead after the first two innings at the plate. In the top of the first, right fielder Rodney Tennie drove in GGC's first run of the afternoon with an RBI-single to left-center. During the next at-bat, first baseman Brady Hamilton stole third base and then scored on an erred throw to the bag by TWU's catcher Grant Long to make it 2-0. With two outs in the inning, shortstop Trevor Bradley made it 3-0 in GGC's favor with an RBI-double to the right-center field gap.
An inning later, the Grizzlies used a five-run frame to push their advantage to 8-0. Second baseman Marcus McCorkle started the scoring barrage with an RBI-double to right-center. Two batters later, Tennie connected for his second RBI-hit of the afternoon, driving in two Grizzlies with an RBI-single to center. The hit increased GGC's gap to 6-0. After Bradley reached on a five-pitch walk, left fielder Kade Carrigan ripped a two-run home run over the left field fence, advancing GGC's lead to 8-0.
Tennessee Wesleyan (34-16) responded with a run in the second with a grounder by Lang to cut GGC's lead to 8-1, but once again, the Grizzlies' offense struck back in the top of the fourth with five runs to push their lead to 13-1.
In the fourth, McCorkle led off the inning with a double and moved to third with a single by Tennie. Bradley then loaded the bases, walking for the second time in the contest. On a 1-0 count, Carrigan cleared the bases with a three-run double to the right-center gap, giving GGC the 11-1 lead. Three pitches later, third baseman Angel Soto joined the offensive surge with a two-run home run to left to increase the Grizzly lead to 13-1.
Georgia Gwinnett collected its third home run of the game in the top of the fifth as catcher Jean Paul Rodriguez lifted a solo shot to left-center to make it 14-1.
While the Bulldogs rallied for a run in the sixth with an RBI-single by Collin Ridout to cut Georgia Gwinnett's lead to 14-2, Tennessee Wesleyan came up short in a late-inning rally as the Grizzlies went on to pull out the 14-2 run-rule victory in seven innings.
Uherek (4-6) pitched a complete game for the Grizzlies for the win, surrendering two runs on five hits while striking out 10 of the 25 Bulldogs he faced. TWU's Carson Bach was credited with the loss, allowing three earned runs on two hits and four walks in 0.2 innings of work.
The Grizzlies will now travel to Hardeeville, S.C., to face USC Beaufort (S.C.) in a three-game weekend series, taking place April 29-30, to conclude the 2017 regular season. Georgia Gwinnett will then return to Lawrenceville where it will host the A.I.I. tournament May 6-8 at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
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