Georgia Gwinnett's eighth-ranked baseball team dropped to 28-15 on the season on Sunday afternoon as the Grizzlies lost the rubber game of their three-game set to Cumberland (Tenn.) 11-7.
With the loss, the Grizzlies are now 6-3 all-time against Cumberland in the head-to-head series.
"We didn't pitch very well to start the game, but we fought back all afternoon, making up for earlier runs scored against us," said GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl. "We just came up short, and I was happy to see the team fight and not give up down the stretch."
Cumberland (19-24) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings of play, scoring four runs in the first inning and three in the second. Center fielder Rayden Sierra started the seven-run scoring barrage with a three-run home run in the first. Right fielder Jordan Hunt followed up the home run with an RBI-double to the left field corner, pushing the Phoenix's lead to 4-0 after one. In the second, CU's third baseman Austin Krajnak launched the second Phoenix home run of the day over the left field fence. The two-run blast gave Cumberland a 6-0 lead. The third CU home run, and second of the inning, came off the bat of first baseman Austin Voeller, who lifted a solo shot to right for the 7-0 advantage in Cumberland's favor.
The Grizzlies (28-15) cut the gap to two, 7-5, pushing two runs across in the third and fifth innings and an additional run in the sixth. Shortstop Marcus McCorkle made it 7-1 with a leadoff solo home run in the third while a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Alex Garland cut it to 7-2 later in the inning. Two innings later, Garland connected for his fourth home run of the season, lifting a two-run bomb over the left field fence. GGC scored its fifth run of the contest in the top of the sixth as an erred throw by Voeller allowed third baseman Brandon Frazier to score from third.
The Phoenix fired back in the bottom of the sixth with three runs of their own to gain a five-run, 10-5, gap over Georgia Gwinnett. CU's fourth home run of the day extended its lead to 9-5 with a two-run shot by Sierra. The sixth-inning blast was his second home run of the contest. With two outs in the inning, Hunt made it 10-5 with an RBI-triple to the right-center gap.
GGC would go on to score two final runs in the contest on an RBI-single by Frazier in the seventh and an RBI-double by Jean Figueroa in the eighth, cutting the lead to 10-7, but the Grizzlies could not overcome CU's lead as the Phoenix added a final insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on Sierra's third home run of the day to pull out the 11-7 win.
Grizzly starter Myles Smith (3-3) suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs on three hits in 0.1 innings of work. Cumberland's Travis Dohr (6-4) received the win, surrendering six runs, three earned, on eight hits over 6.1 innings while Cody Campbell was credited with the save, providing the Phoenix with 2.2 innings of relief.
Georgia Gwinnett returns to action on Monday, April 10 when the Grizzlies host Truett McConnell in a nine-inning contest at the Grizzly Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. and will be broadcasted live on the Grizzly Digital Network with pregame coverage beginning at 2:45 p.m.
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