With only a few weeks left in the regular season, the South Georgia State College Hawks are hanging on to their second place spot in the GCAA standings. SGSC (28-19, 13-7) finished a four-game series with Gordon State, tallying two wins and two losses.
The Hawks traveled to Barnesville last Tuesday to beat Gordon on Gordon’s home field by a score of 6-3. Conner Durden went 2-for-5, using a single and a two-run double in the third inning to put the Hawks in an early lead. The Hawks would earn three more runs before Gordon tried to start a rally with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. SGSC came back to score one in the eighth inning. Chandler Rogers and Chase Hinson each touched the plate twice for the Hawks during the game, followed by Stephan Cruver and Mikal Flores with one run.
Zack Refuse recorded the win for the Hawks. He allowed three runs over 6 1/3 innings, struck out one, walked four, and gave up four hits. Shawn Blue came in as the closer to put away the final eight outs, recording the save.
SGSC returned to Douglas for the remainder of the series. Friday’s game saw a 6 -4 victory for the Hawks followed by two losses in Saturday’s doubleheader (10-6 and 13-7).
In Friday’s contest, Flores’s home run helped the Hawks take the lead. They went on to score in the second, sixth, and seventh innings to add three to the board. Cayden Hatcher was credited with the win as he allowed only four runs over seven innings, struck out eight, walked two, and gave up nine hits.
Saturday was not as productive for the Hawks. In game one, Gordon State came out swinging, scoring three runs in the first inning from a single and a home run. The Hawks pushed one run across the plate in the first, followed by an RBI single by Flores in the third, scoring Cruver. Gordon answered with five runs in the third and two in the fifth. The Hawks tried to come back with a set of runs in the sixth, but it was not enough.
In game two, the Hawks put up a battle, but Gordon pulled away late in the game for the victory. Hinson paced SGSC at the plate by going 3-for-4. He drove in one run and scored two runs. The fourth inning looked to be a good one for the Hawks as they took the lead by scoring five runs on a solo home run by Durden, an RBI single by Landon Boyette, an RBI single by Hinson, and a two-run single by Cameron Coffey. Gordon’s Ryan Young drove in four runs in the fifth, and with a tied score heading into the top of the eighth, Gordon pulled away by scoring six runs on a three-run home run and two singles.
– Submitted by Amy Hancock, SGSC External Affairs Coordinator