The nationally ranked Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team scored early and often in completing a three-game series sweep against Florida National University with a 14-0 victory Saturday afternoon at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.

The Grizzlies (28-9) registered their first series sweep since West Virginia Tech on February 19-20 and fourth sweep of the season. This time they outscored Florida National 44-0 during the weekend. 

The hosts scored runs in four of their six innings – five coming in the second inning and another four following in the third frame to build a 10-0 advantage. A passed ball allowed freshman Braxton Meguiar to score the game's first run in the opening frame. Two straight walks with the bases loaded opened the scoring in the second inning. Senior Austin Bates drove in a pair of runs with a single to right field. Then, junior Jake Defries followed with an RBI single to give GGC an early 6-0 lead.

The third-inning scoring opened with a bases-loaded walk before Bates brought home two runs with a double down the left field line.

Sophomore Joshua Holt Jr. legged out a triple to bring home Defries in the fifth inning. Sophomore Chase Evans connected on a two-run home run to score GGC's 44th run of the three-game series.

The Grizzlies tallied nine hits on Saturday, led by Bates, Meguiar and Evans each registering two hits. Meguiar scored four runs and Bates recorded four RBI in the contest.

Five pitchers combined for the shutout – the team's third straight – with senior Rhian Mann scattering two hits and having three strikeouts in his first start of the season. Juniors Jaelin Sewell, Jonathan Haab and Hunter Moody joined sophomore Jake Bearden in each tossing one scoreless inning in relief.


  "We challenged the players before the week started and they responded by winning our midweek game against an in-state rival (Middle Georgia State) and then taking care of business this weekend (against Florida National). That says a lot about the players' ability to answer the bell. We're excited to see how this takes us moving forward," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.
  The Grizzlies took advantage of 11 walks to score 14 runs on Saturday. A passed ball allowed for an unearned run to score in the first inning. GGC benefited from bases-loaded walks to score the first two runs of the second inning. Another bases-loaded walk opened a four-run third inning.
  Bottom of Second
Austin Bates hit a two-run single to right field to give the Grizzlies a 5-0 lead
Jake Defries followed with an RBI single to right field
 
Bottom of Third
Austin Bates added a two-run double down the left field line
 
Bottom of Fifth
Cohen Wilbanks hit a run-scoring single to score Braxton Meguiar
 
Bottom of Sixth
Joshua Holt Jr. legged out an RBI triple to bring home Jake Defries
Chase Evans connected on a two-run home run to right field
 

• The Grizzlies outhit Florida National by a 9-4 margin
• Five GGC pitchers combined to toss the team's third shutout of the series
• Sophomore Chase Evans went 2-for-4 and scored three runs
• Freshman Braxton Meguiar scored four runs from the leadoff spot in the batting order

• GGC improves to 28-9 on the season; Florida National falls to 5-30 this spring
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 11 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll
• The team outscored Florida National 44-0 in sweeping the three-game weekend series
• Florida National and GGC are members of the Continental Athletic Conference

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to travel to No. 2-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan University on Tuesday, April 12, from Athens, Tennessee, starting at 3 p.m.