The 14th-ranked Georgia Gwinnett baseball team survived and moved on in the loser's bracket of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket as the top-seeded Grizzlies defeated fourth-seeded LSU Shreveport in a 20-2 rout on Tuesday evening.
The contest saw two Georgia Gwinnett single-game records fall while two individuals tied two other marks for a spot in the records book.
As a unit, Georgia Gwinnett had 24 hits, breaking the previous record of 22 that was set against Rochester (Mich.) on March 14, 2015 and Ohio State Lima on March 19, 2015.
Right fielder Jean Figueroa had a stellar performance at the plate for the Grizzlies, going 5-for-6 to tie the GGC single-game record for hits in the contest. He joins Josh Merrigan (2016) and Austin Alexander (2017) as the only two other Grizzlies to reach this mark. Both Figueroa and center fielder Chris Jones became the 18th and 19th Grizzlies all-time to have six at-bats in a game while shortstop Marcus McCorkle broke GGC's single-game runs record, scoring on five occasions. The previous record of four runs scored was held by teammate Kyler Timmerman as the Evans, Ga., native scored four times against Talladega (Ala.) on April 18, 2016.
"Tonight was exactly what we needed," said GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl. "We came out strong and had timely hits throughout the game. While it was a record-setting night for us and some individuals, the focus remains on tomorrow and battling against Webber International for a spot in the championship game."
Georgia Gwinnett (39-20) received a dominant pitching performance from right-hander Trevor Bradley in the 20-2 win. The Lexington, S.C., native allowed one unearned run in the contest, striking out three Pilots while scattering two hits in five innings of work for the win. GGC's freshman reliever Chase Boone came on in the sixth for the Grizzlies and provided four innings of relief, surrendering just one run on three hits while striking out two.
The Grizzlies scored four runs in three separate innings in the contest and drove in a run in every inning except the bottom of the sixth.
LSU Shreveport (39-21) ended its 2017 campaign with two runs on five hits as catcher Blake Buller led the Pilots at the plate with a 2-for-3 showing. Hunter Cunningham received the loss in the elimination contest as the right-hander gave up five runs, two earned, on five hits in 1.2 innings.
Georgia Gwinnett will now face second-seeded Webber International (Fla.) in the loser's bracket championship on Wednesday, May 17 at 11:00 a.m. The winner of Wednesday's first game will then move on to face fourth-seeded The Master's (Calif.) in the championship game of the Lawrenceville Bracket. Either the Grizzlies or Webber International must defeat The Master's twice to reach the Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. The "if necessary" game of the tournament will take place on Thursday at noon at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
Both of day three's contests will be broadcast free of charge on the Grizzly Digital Network.
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