Relief pitchers Jeremiah Locklear and Ethan Anderson combined to strike out 13 of the 18 batters the bullpen faced as the No. 2-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team came back for a 15-9 victory against Saint Xavier University (Illinois) Friday evening to open a weekend series at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.

Locklear, a junior left hander, tallied 11 of those strikeouts across 3.2 scoreless innings. Meanwhile, Anderson, a sophomore right-handed pitcher, added two more strikeouts in throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

"I saw the scoreboard (down 9-6) when I got the ball and told myself to just do my job (not allowing any more runs) for however long that is before handing the ball over to another talented guy. I was able to get ahead of the hitters by throwing strikes on my first pitch to each hitter. All of my pitches felt good tonight," said Locklear, who improved to 1-1 on the season.

While the relievers were doing their jobs, GGC (11-1) scored four runs in the fifth inning to mount its comeback and eventually take the lead for good. Four more runs were added one inning later to increase the lead against the Cougars, a participant in the 2023 NAIA Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket.

The early innings featured a back-and-forth affair with the Cougars (4-3) scoring an unearned run in the first inning and adding two more runs during the second inning to build a 3-1 advantage.

GGC had an answer each time the visitors scored.

Senior Ajay Sczepkowski connected on a solo home run, his second round tripper of the 2024 season, in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Joe Quelch then lined an RBI single in the second inning. Junior Braxton Meguiar hit a run-scoring single and was part of a successful double steal that gave the Grizzlies a 4-3 lead in the third inning.

Saint Xavier responded with six runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the 9-6 advantage.

Junior Henry Daniels opened the bottom half of the fifth inning with his third home run of the season. Two runs scored on a ground out to first base by junior Cohen Wilbanks before senior Blaze O'Saben lined a go-ahead RBI single to left field. That base hit gave the hosts a 10-9 lead.

"We found ways to create chaos in all but one inning offensively. I was impressed with how we were able to stay on the (offensive) attack. We turned some of those innings even when we didn't have much going with two outs, but we still found a way to get a run across," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.

Meanwhile, the GGC bullpen quieted the Cougars' bats with 4.2 combined scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.

Meguiar paced the Grizzlies' 11-hit offensive attack by going 2-for-5 with three RBI. Sczepkowski registered two hits and scored twice, while Wilbanks tallied two hits in the contest.


  "We were in a dogfight and we called upon bullpen and a guy (Jeremiah Locklear) literally hung zero after zero (on the scoreboard). That gave us a chance to come back and eventually take control," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.
  Coach Jeremy Sheetinger's call to the bullpen quieted the Saint Xavier bats as junior left hander Jeremiah Locklear and sophomore right hander Ethan Anderson combined to strike out 13 of the 18 batters that they faced to close out the game. Locklear recorded 11 strikeouts. He tossed 3.2 scoreless innings. At the same time the Grizzlies scored eight unanswered runs to win the series opener.
  Bottom of First
Ajay Sczepkowski connected on a solo home run to tie the contest at 1-1
 
Bottom of Second
Joe Quelch lined an RBI single to left-center field to bring home Jackson Cobb
 
Bottom of Fourth
Braxton Meguiar hit a two-run double with two outs to give the Grizzlies a 6-3 lead
 
Top of Fifth
Troy Stukenberg connected on a two-run home run to right field to give the Cougars a 9-6 lead
 
Bottom of Fifth
Henry Daniels opened the frame with a home run to right-center field for his third round tripper of the season
Two runs scored on a ground out to first base by Cohen Wilbanks
Blaze O'Saben lined a run-scoring single to left field as GGC regained the lead, 10-9
 
Bottom of Sixth
Jackson Cobb hit an RBI ground out to shortstop to start a four-run frame
Caden Smith added a run-scoring single to right field
Cohen Wilbanks hit an infield RBI single to extend GGC's lead to 14-9
 

• The Grizzlies outhit Saint Xavier by an 11-9 margin in the contest
• Junior reliever Jeremiah Locklear struck out 11 batters across 3.2 scoreless innings in a relief performance; the left hander becomes the fourth different GGC pitcher to record 10 or more strikeouts in a contest this season
• GGC successfully stole 10 bases in the victory
• Junior Henry Daniels hit his third homer of the season to tie for the team lead

• GGC improves to 11-1 this spring; Saint Xavier drops to 4-3 on the season
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll
• Georgia Gwinnett College has won all four all-time meetings against the Cougars
• The team has recorded 134 strikeouts in 85 innings in 2024

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host Saint Xavier University (Illinois) in a doubleheader that's part of Doug Court Appreciation Day on Saturday, February 24, at the Grizzly Baseball Complex, starting at 1 p.m. Special pregame festivities are planned for 12:45 p.m.