The Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team was aggressive in the batter's box, on the base paths, and on the pitching mound to open play in the NAIA Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket with a convincing 14-8 victory against William Carey University (Mississippi) on Monday, May 16, at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.

The Grizzlies (43-14) put runs on the scoreboard in seven of their eight innings, collected a season-high 19 hits, stole four bases, and got a strong pitching performance from starter Gavin Heltemes in winning the team's ninth straight game in NAIA postseason play.

"We wanted to be aggressive in everything we did against a very good William Carey team (coming in with a 14-game winning streak). The players did a great job of executing that game plan," said GGC Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger, whose team has won its Opening Round opener for the second straight season. "We've put ourselves in good position, but we're going to have to play with the same intensity and commitment to every detail in the future. The challenges will get even more intense as we move throughout the tournament."

Eight of GGC's nine starting players in the batting order produced a hit while six had multiple-hit performances to produce a 13-1 lead in the first seven innings. The last four hitters in the lineup were especially effective, with No. 7-place hitter Myles McKisic going 4-for-5, with a home run and three singles; No. 8 hitter Joshua Holt Jr. being 3-for-5, with a triple; and No. 9 hitter Blaze O'Saben having three hits and three runs batted in.

Not to be outdone, leadoff hitter Braxton Meguiar also had three hits, Livington Morris had two hits, including a home run and a double, and two walks, and No. 6 hitter J.D. Stubbs also had two hits, with one being a double that led off a productive inning.

Meanwhile, Heltemes matched his teammates' performance with a strong opening game. He allowed only two earned runs, six hits and struck out five opposing batters across 7.2 innings to improve his record to 7-1 for the season.

"Gavin had the right pitch in the right situations today to keep a productive (opposing) lineup off balance for most of the day. He could locate his fastball, which usually put him ahead of most hitters, and then change speeds effectively. It was a masterful pitching performance," said Sheetinger. "Gavin gave us just what we needed from an opening-tournament starter: seven of more solid innings. We're now set up well for the rest of the way."

William Carey (37-16) scored seven runs in the final two innings. Patrick Lee was 4-for-5, with a two-run home run, while the rest of the Crusaders' seven hits were evenly scattered throughout the lineup. Jake Lycette had a solo home run in the second inning.

 

BASEBALL HIGHLIGHTS! Georgia Gwinnett College opens the Lawrenceville Bracket with a 14-8 victory over @CareyAthletics. Grizzlies scored in seven of their eight offensive innings to advance to Tuesday's winner's bracket.#GGCAthletics | #NAIABaseball pic.twitter.com/IT5KcYYVH5

— GGC Athletics (@GGCAthletics) May 16, 2022

  "This was another all-around team effort. We clicked offensively, made key plays defensively and shined on the mound (pitching). I liked our positive mindset. We had a game plan to be aggressive and we executed that to near perfection. It's going to take the same effort for the next three days to win this tournament," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.
  The bottom four hitters in the Grizzlies' batting lineup produced 15 of the team's 19 hits, with Myles McKisic leading the way by collecting four hits in five plate appearances, including a home run. Joshua Holt Jr. was 3-for-5, with a triple; and Blaze O'Saben was 3-for-4, with three RBI. Senior J.D. Stubbs collected two hits in the victory.
  Bottom of First
Chase Evans singled through the right side to score Jake Defries
Austin Bates' ground out to second base allowed Livingston Morris to score for a 2-0 lead
 
Top of the Second
Jake Lycette led off with a home run to cut the lead in half, 2-1
 
Bottom of the Second
Braxton Meguiar singled through the right side of the infield to score Blaze O'Saben for a 3-1 edge
 
Bottom of Third
J.D. Stubbs singled down the right field line to score Ryan Hunt and Chase Evans
Joshua Holt Jr. singled to right field to score Stubbs for a 6-1 lead
 
Bottom of Fourth
Livingston Morris hit a two-run home run to deep left-center field for an 8-1 lead
 
Bottom of Fifth
Myles McKisic homered to left field to score Ryan Hunt for a 10-1 advantage
 
Bottom of Seventh
Blaze O'Saben singled to score Myles McKisic and J.D. Stubbs for a 12-1 lead
 
Top of Eighth
Caeleb Williams singled up the middle to score Jordan Szush
Colby Cagle singles to left field to bring home Williams and Patrick Lee with unearned runs
Wiley Cleland doubled to left center to score Cagle and Jake Lycette to close the gap to 13-6
 
Top of Ninth
Patrick Lee hit a two-run homer to right field to narrow the gap to 14-8
 

• GGC outhit William Carey by a 19-11 margin
• The Grizzlies scored runs in seven of their eight offensive innings
• Six Grizzlies had multiple hits, with junior Myles McKisic going 4-for-5 and freshman Braxton Meguiar, sophomore Joshua Holt Jr. and junior Blaze O'Saben each having three hits
• Starting pitcher Gavin Heltemes had five strikeouts and allowed six hits across 7.2 innings

• GGC improves to 43-14 on the season; William Carey falls to 37-15
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 10 in the final NAIA Top 25 regular season poll; William Carey was No. 25 in the same poll
• GGC is the No. 2 seed of the NAIA Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket; William Carey is the No. 3 seed in the four-team tournament field
• The Grizzlies have all seven games in the series against William Carey
• GGC was the Continental Athletic Conference tournament champions; William Carey won the Southern States Athletic Conference championship

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to play in a winner's bracket round game on Tuesday, May 17, at the Grizzly Baseball Complex, starting at 7 p.m.