Strong pitching and timely hitting proved to be the winning combination for the NAIA's No. 11-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team in an 8-1 victory against NCAA Division II Erskine College (South Carolina) Wednesday afternoon at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.

The Grizzlies (36-12) scored five of their eight runs following two-out base hits.

Senior J.D. Stubbs hit a two-run home run with two outs in the second inning to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

A few innings later, junior Myles McKisic added an RBI single to bring home junior Ryan Hunt for a 3-1 advantage.

GGC used a four-run sixth frame to pull away from the Fleet (28-21). The bottom of the lineup helped set up the scoring spree. It started with Stubbs lining an RBI single to center field. Then, back-to-back base hits with two outs from freshman Braxton Meguiar and junior Jake Defries drove in two runs. Defries' double to left field scored a pair of runs that gave the Grizzlies a 7-1 lead.

"We have something good brewing in our dugout – there is no quit in our team. If we have a strike or an out left, we still have a chance to contribute. The bottom of our lineup proved that today by putting balls in play and putting together quality at-bats," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.

Meanwhile, on the mound senior Rhian Mann scattered three hits and allowed one unearned run across five innings in his third career start. The right hander improved to 5-1 on the season. Juniors Rob Hamby, Sam Hunt and Jonathan Haab combined for four strikeouts and allowed two hits during four scoreless innings in relief.

"Rhian absolutely set the tone for the day. He showed what we could do against their hitters and his performance set up Rob (Hamby), Sam (Hunt) and Jonathan (Haab) to have success," said Sheetinger.

McKisic led GGC's 11-hit offensive attack by going 3-for-3 and scoring two runs. Stubbs drove in three runs and collected two hits. Meguiar and Defries also recorded two hits in the victory.
  "I was very impressed with how our guys attacked this game. We haven't done too many double midweek games (after beating Brewton-Parker College on Tuesday), but it was a strong all-around performance by the way we pitched, played defense, and executed things offensively. It was as complete of a game as we've had this season. It was good to see at this time of the season," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.
  Five of GGC's eight runs in Wednesday's home victory came on base hits with two outs in the inning. With two outs in the second frame, junior Myles McKisic started the team's scoring for the day with a double. Senior J.D. Stubbs followed with a two-run home run. Then, with two outs in sixth inning three runs were added to the scoreboard with hits from freshman Braxton Meguiar and junior Jake Defries.
  Bottom of Second
J.D. Stubbs connected on a two-run home run to give the Grizzlies an early 2-0 lead
 
Bottom of Fourth
Myles McKisic hit a run-scoring single to center field
 
Bottom of Sixth
J.D. Stubbs lined an RBI single to center field to bring home Chase Evans
Braxton Meguiar hit a run-scoring single with two outs to give GGC a 5-1 advantage
Jake Defries drove in a pair of runs to cap the team's four-run inning
 

• The Grizzlies outhit Erskine by an 11-5 margin
• Senior catcher Austin Bates threw out three base runners attempting to steal a base in the contest
• Junior Myles McKisic went 3-for-3 and scored two runs on Wednesday
• Senior Livingston Morris recorded four putouts from right field in the victory

• GGC improves to 36-12 this spring; Erskine falls to 28-21 on the season
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 11 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll
• Wednesday's game marked the first contest between the two colleges
• GGC improved to 5-5 all-time against NCAA Division II opponents in the program's 10 seasons

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to begin a weekend series against USC Beaufort (South Carolina) with a single nine-inning game Friday, April 29, from the Grizzly Baseball Complex, starting at 6 p.m.