Senior
Alex Garland connected on a two-run homer and junior
Pedro Garcia had a strong pitching performance as the top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team earned a 5-2 victory against Union College (Ky.) to cap Monday's first day of the NAIA Opening Round's Lawrenceville Bracket at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
GGC (44-11) advances to play No. 2-seeded Georgetown College (Ky.) on Tuesday, May 14, at 3 p.m. The Tigers defeated No. 3-seeded IU Southeast 6-1 in another first-round contest.
Garland's round tripper came in the fifth inning and gave the tournament hosts a 2-0 lead.
Then, the Grizzlies added three key insurance runs in the seventh inning to build a 5-0 advantage. Bases-loaded walks to
C.J. Ballard and
Nick Barnes scored two of the runs, while a hit by pitch to
Brandon Frazier pushed across another tally.
That's all Garcia needed as he recorded 11 strikeouts and scattered seven hits across 8.1 innings to improve to 6-1 on the season. Freshman
Alec Kliphouse recorded the final two outs as Union brought the potential game-tying run to the plate in the ninth inning.
Both teams tallied seven hits with senior
Brenton Burgess and sophomore
Cam Coursey each collected two hits for the Grizzlies.
Coach's Corner
"I thought Pedro did an unbelievable job. You've got to win on the mound in these tournaments and Pedro did exactly what he's supposed to do. We had a big hit by Alex to break the game open. I'm glad we got the win against a really good Union team," said Head Coach
Brad Stromdahl.
Turning Point
Senior
Alex Garland connected on a two-run home run deep over the left field wall to give the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. From there, junior
Pedro Garcia tossed three additional scoreless innings as GGC would extend the lead to 5-0 by the seventh inning.
Key Plays
Bottom of Fifth
Alex Garland hit a two-run homer to give the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead
Bottom of Seventh
C.J. Ballard drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home
Brenton Burgess
Brandon Frazier was hit by a pitch to extend the lead to 4-0
Nick Barnes followed with a walk to score another run
Inside The Numbers
- Both teams tallied seven hits in the contest
- Junior pitcher Pedro Garcia had 11 strikeouts in earning his sixth victory of the season
- The Grizzlies drew five walks, including two with the bases loaded in the seventh inning
- Senior C.J. Ballard had three putouts from right field
News & Notes
- GGC improves to 44-11 on the season; Union drops to 28-24 in 2019
- Georgia Gwinnett College was the top seed in the Lawrenceville Bracket of the NAIA Opening Round; Union stood as the No. 5 seed
- The Grizzlies were ranked No. 4 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll of the regular season
- GGC has outscored its opponents by a 47-to-9 margin during 2019 postseason play
Up Next
Top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College plays No. 2-seeded Georgetown College (Ky.) in a winner's bracket contest on Tuesday, May 14, at 3 p.m. at the Grizzly Baseball Complex. Georgetown defeated No. 3-seeded IU Southeast 6-1 in another first-round contest on Monday.
