The South Georgia State baseball team (21-14, 6-2) has been adding a number of wins to its record in recent weeks, and the series against the West Georgia Tech Golden Knights was no different. The Hawks won 3-out-of-4 in the series, scoring a total of 29 runs over the four games. SGSC won games on March 29 and April 2 by scores of 4-3 and 12-1, respectively. The Hawks split a doubleheader with West Georgia on April 3, losing 7-3 in game one and winning 10-2 in the closing game of the series.
The March 29th game saw the Hawks jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Christian Harkey started the rally for SGSC with a single. Harkey moved around the bases on an SGSC groundout and was brought home on a single by Sean Bryan. Bryan had a busy day at the plate, collecting two extra-base hits. Aside from his single in the second, Bryan doubled in the fifth, singled again in the sixth, and tripled in the eighth. Zack Rafuse pitched nine innings and allowed only one earned run on six hits.
The April 2nd game included high scoring and strong pitching for the Hawks. Cayden Hatcher was in full force with a dominant, six strikeout performance on the mound. Hatcher allowed one earned run, five hits and no walks over seven innings. SGSC had a much easier time handling the West Georgia pitching as six hitters combined for twelve hits, ten RBIs and ten runs scored. Bryan led the hitting for SGSC. He went 3-for-4, drove in one and scored two runs. He doubled in the first and singled in the third and fourth innings. The Hawks were strong at the plate with Bryan and Mikal Flores each racking up three hits, followed by Cameron Coffey, Harkey, and Chase Hinson with two each. Stephan Cruver and Conner Durden added in one hit apiece.
In game one of the April 3rd doubleheader, SGSC gained an early lead but was unable to hold on and dropped the game to West Georgia Tech. The bottom of the second saw SGSC begin the scoring on a single by Conner Durden, plating Coffey. Flores racked up two RBIs with his home run in the third inning. The game quickly turned in favor of West Georgia Tech in the seventh when the Golden Knights scored seven runs in that inning alone. Chip Devitt kept West Georgia Tech off the board during his six innings of work by allowing only two hits and two walks. He struck out five. Joe Parete was charged with the loss despite his best efforts to hold onto the lead.
In the final game, the Hawks rebounded from the earlier loss to take the victory from the Golden Knights. SGSC took the lead by scoring four runs by the fourth inning. The runs started coming across the plate in the first after two runs were scored on an error and an RBI single by Durden. West Georgia tried to come back with two runs in the top of the fifth, but SGSC answered by scoring five in the bottom of the fifth. Coffey had a flawless day and led the game’s hitting by going 4-for-4. Durden and Bryan added two hits with Chandler Rogers, Wyatt Petrey and Jacob Schmidt each getting one hit. Shawn Blue looked sharp on the mound. West Georgia Tech managed just one hit off Blue, who allowed no earned runs and walked none during his two innings of work. Caleb Hill recorded the win for the Hawks. He allowed only two runs over five innings, struck out two, walked four and gave up three hits.
For more information, including a complete schedule, team roster, photos, and scores, visit www.sgsc.edu/athletics.
– Submitted by Amy Hancock, SGSC External Affairs Coordinator