Senior Paul Winland Jr. connected on a walk-off grand slam over the center field fence as the Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team won a thrilling 13-9 contest in 12 innings against the University of St. Francis (Illinois) on Sunday evening at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.

The Grizzlies (16-2) rallied from three separate deficits to score their seventh straight victory. Winland Jr. played a key role in two of those comeback efforts.

Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the third baseman tied the contest with a two-run double off the top of the center field wall. Senior Jackson Cobb began the rally with a two-run single through the right side of the infield. Winland Jr. crossed the plate to give the hosts a 6-5 lead after senior Matthew Lee lined an RBI double. A sacrifice fly from senior Sam Seeker capped the six-run inning.

Later, senior Braxton Meguiar hit a single up the middle with one out in the 12th inning. Following a flyout, consecutive walks to senior Scott Seeker and Cobb loaded the bases for Winland Jr.

That's when the third baseman connected on the towering home run a few feet further than the same spot that his double hit the center field wall in the sixth inning.

"I got ahead in the count by taking a fastball and slider. I was looking for the fastball and was able to get a good swing on it," said Winland Jr. about his walk-off grand slam.

St. Francis (3-6) was resilient throughout the back-and-forth game, scoring one run in the seventh inning and eventually tying the game at 7-7 during the eighth inning on a leadoff homer by Brayan Hidalgo. The Fighting Saints plated another run to take an 8-7 lead late in the contest.

Scott Seeker then led off the bottom half of the eighth inning for GGC with his first homer of the 2025 campaign tying the game.

St. Francis' Cliff Vickers hit a two-out RBI single to center field in the top of the 11th inning to once again give the visitors a one-run lead, at 9-8, late in the contest.

GGC had its own response as Lee lined a game-tying run-scoring double with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Sophomore reliever Shane Anderson struck out the side in the 12th inning to set up Winland Jr.'s extra-inning heroics, which came in front of his mother, Donna Winland, who decided at 6 a.m. Sunday morning to surprise her son with a five-and-a-half hour drive from Beaufort, South Carolina, to attend the contest in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

"She doesn't get to come see me play as much as she would like. I'm so happy that she was able to experience that (game-winning grand slam) today," said Winland Jr., who went 3-for-6 with six RBI in the game.

The magnitude of the moment did not go unnoticed within the Grizzly dugout.

"You can't write a script much better than that. The game presents moments like that," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger. "It is so cool to see. Paul is an easy kid to root for because of who he is and what he's all about. I know the moment is special for him, but also special for his mother."

Senior reliever Tyler E. Martin tossed four strong innings, striking out six batters as GGC used six pitchers in the contest.

Offensively, Scott Seeker joined Cobb and Lee in tallying two hits apiece as the Grizzlies registered 12 hits in the victory.


 
Coach's Corner
"This was a heck of a college baseball game. I'm happy our guys answered the bell in an extra-inning game and being tested like that against a well-coached team. We don't win this game without Tyler Martin's contributions in relief. He did a phenomenal job of giving us everything he had. Shane (Anderson) also hung a big zero (on the scoreboard) in the 12th," said Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger.
 
Turning Point
The Grizzlies battled back on multiple occasions to win the game that ended a successful four-victory weekend. They trailed by one-run margins in the eighth and 11th innings. Each time a senior delivered for GGC. First, Scott Seeker led off the eighth inning with his first home run of the season to tie the contest at 8-8. Matthew Lee lined a one-out RBI double to tie the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the 11th inning. Then, Paul Winland Jr. connected on a walk-off grand slam to cap a thrilling 12-inning victory.
 
Key Plays
Top of Second
Brayan Hidalgo hit an RBI ground out to second base
Mitchell Thomas added a run-scoring single to center field to give the visitors a 3-1 lead
 
Bottom of Sixth
Jackson Cobb hit a two-run single through the right side of the infield
Paul Winland Jr. tied the game, at 5-5, with a two-run double to center field
Matthew Lee lined a run-scoring double to plate the go-ahead run
Sam Seeker hit a sacrifice fly to give GGC a 7-5 lead
 
Top of Eighth
Brayan Hidalgo led off the frame with a home run to center field, tying the contest at 7-7
 
Bottom of Eighth
Scott Seeker led off with a home run to right center field, tying the game at 8-8
 
Bottom of the 11th
Matthew Lee lined an RBI double to right-center field to once again even the contest at 9-9
 
Bottom of the 12th
Paul Winland Jr. connected on a walk-off grand slam to give the Grizzlies the 13-9 victory
 
Inside The Numbers

• GGC outhit St. Francis by a 12-11 margin on Sunday
• Senior Paul Winland Jr. went 3-for-6 and drove in six runs in the victory
• The teams combined to throw 375 pitches in the 12-inning affair
• The team scored 76 runs during the four-game weekend set

News & Notes

• GGC improves to 16-2 on the season; St. Francis falls to 3-6 this spring
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll
• GGC has won eight of the 10 all-time meetings with St. Francis
• Sunday's game was the longest contest since playing 12 innings against Point Park University (Pennsylvania) on March 25, 2022

Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host the University of Saint Francis (Illinois) in a rematch on Tuesday, March 4, at the Grizzly Baseball Complex, starting at 3 p.m.