Production from throughout the batting lineup propelled the No. 7-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team to an 18-0 seven-inning victory against Lourdes University (Ohio) on Sunday afternoon at the Grizzly Baseball Complex – completing a strong offensive weekend for the Grizzlies' 11th straight triumph.

All nine of GGC's players in the batting order scored a run, including a pinch runner, eight of the starters collected a hit (among 12 for the team), and six hitters brought home a run in the game.

That helped produce a nine-run third inning to have a monumental 14-0 lead.

Senior Blaze O'Saben registered a pair of base hits to bring home a run during the productive third inning. He opened the frame with a run-scoring single to right field. A few batters later, junior Jon Ponder legged out an RBI double to give the hosts an 8-0 lead. O'Saben came back to cap the inning with a three-run home run over the left field fence for his first round tripper of the spring season.

Junior Devin Warner collected an RBI single to right field during the fourth inning, when the hosts added two more runs. He had four RBI for the day and drove in 12 runs for the week and hit five home runs across the last five games for the Grizzlies (17-2).

Ponder scored three runs and tallied three hits from the leadoff spot in the batting order. Junior Jesus Pacheco and O'Saben each had two hits. Junior Ajay Sczepkowski, sophomore Braxton Meguiar and Pacheco each added three runs scored for the team.

GGC also posted its first shutout of the 2023 season with junior Tyler Clayton recording six strikeouts and allowing just two hits across five innings to improve to 2-1 on the season. Senior Sam Hunt and junior Kyle Dixon each tossed a scoreless inning in relief as the pitching staff limited the Gray Wolves (2-5) to just four hits.

The Grizzlies outscored last week's opponents by a 64-16 margin across the five games.


 
"Today was a great example of how to compete on both sides of the baseball. Tyler (Clayton) pitched like the ace that he is while the hitters did exactly what they're supposed to do in their spots. I'm proud that the guys took care of business this weekend," said Jeremy Sheetinger.
 
A nine-inning third inning broke Sunday's game open for the Grizzlies. Senior Blaze O'Saben played a key role in the big offensive inning. He opened the scoring with an RBI single to right field. Junior Jon Ponder lined a run-scoring double to give the team an 8-0 lead. Then, O'Saben connected on a three-run home run to left field on his second plate appearance of the inning.
 
Bottom of First
Ajay Sczepkowski hit an RBI single to bring home Jon Ponder to open the scoring
 
Bottom of Second
Jon Ponder lined a run-scoring double to give the Grizzlies a 4-0 lead
Devin Warner hit a sacrifice fly
 
Bottom of Third
Blaze O'Saben connected on a three-run home run to cap a nine-run inning
 
Bottom of Fourth
Brett Dingess hit a sacrifice fly to score Braxton Meguiar
 
Bottom of Sixth
Caden Smith added an RBI single to center field
 

• The Grizzlies outhit Lourdes by a 12-4 margin on Sunday
• Junior Devin Warner drove in four runs in the victory, increasing his total to 12 RBI across five games for the week
• Junior Jon Ponder legged out two doubles and scored three runs
• Three GGC pitchers combined for nine strikeouts in tossing the team's first shutout of the season

• GGC improves to 17-2 on the season; Lourdes drops to 2-5 in 2023
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 7 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll
• The team has won all six meetings in the series against Lourdes
• Georgia Gwinnett College has won 11 straight games

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host Madonna University (Michigan) on Tuesday, March 7, at the Grizzly Baseball Complex, starting at 5 p.m.