The No. 14 Georgia Gwinnett baseball team split a pair of games to end its road to the Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series, winning 7-6 over No. 17 Webber Invitational (Fla.) to begin the day and losing 9-1 to The Master's (Calif.) on Wednesday in the 2017 NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket.
The Grizzlies (40-21), who dropped a 4-3 decision on Monday to TMU, were fighting for a spot in next week's Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. Georgia Gwinnett started the day with a 7-6 win against Webber International, where the Grizzlies faced a 6-2 deficit and rallied to score four runs in the final two innings en route to a come-from-behind 7-6 win. To begin the comeback, the Grizzlies scored three runs on three hits and capitalized on an error to move even the game at six apiece in the eighth.
With the game tied at 6-6 in the ninth, Georgia Gwinnett rallied for the winning run without a hit. To start the inning, first baseman Alex Garland was hit by a pitch. He then advanced into scoring position on an error by the Warrior defense. With runners on the corners and no outs, catcher Brady Shoppe brought in Garland from third on a sacrifice fly for what proved to be the winning run.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Warriors mounted a late threat with a pair of singles before GGC reliever Michael Royal got a strikeout and line out to shortstop Marcus McCorkle to end the game for the win. With the win, Royal improves to 5-0 on the season. He finished the day, pitching four innings of three hit relief in the win.
"Our guys played with passion, heart, and the complete desire to battle through moments of joy and hard spots when our backs were against the wall," said GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl. "Royal was lights out for us in the closing innings of game one, and I'm proud of his grit in his final appearance as a Grizzly. Each season, we continue to build the future and foundation of our infant program. We are going to continue to build a power each year on step at a time. For the fourth year in a row, we have reached the championship game of an Opening Round and that in itself is a testament to our program. This season was proof that we can win in a variety of ways, and I'm excited to see where our future leads."
In the nightcap, The Master's (39-21) defeated Georgia Gwinnett 9-1 to clinch the Lawrenceville Bracket while securing a spot in the Avista-NAIA World Series as the first team to do so in the country. The Mustangs' Jason Karkenny went the distance in a complete game effort, limiting the Grizzlies to nine hits. Three of those nine hits came from Shoppe while Garland contribute two as well in the loss.
Karkenny got 15 hits and nine runs of support from the Mustangs as seven different players recorded a hit for TMU in the win. TMU's Aaron Shackelford and Max Maitland each had four hits and combined for five of the nine runs in the contest.
Facing a 4-0 deficit, Georgia Gwinnett got on the board when the Grizzlies plated a run in the its half of the fifth inning. The Mustangs added to their lead with five runs in the final three innings en route to a 9-1 win.
Georgia Gwinnett ends the 2017 with a 40-21 record to secure the fourth consecutive season with 40 or more victories.
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