The South Georgia State College Hawks swept a four-game series against the Andrew College Tigers last week, beating the Tigers 10-3 on April 26, 13-12 on April 28 and 5-4 and 7-1 in Douglas on April 30.
The sweep pushes SGSC to 17-7 in the GCAA (32-19 overall), with another four-game series coming against ABAC May 3, 5, and 7. The Hawks are hanging on to their second place position in the conference standings behind Darton State College from Albany, Ga.
In the game on April 26, the Hawks jumped out to a good start after scoring two runs in the second with help from a solo home run by Conner Durden. SGSC scored one in the fifth and ended the game with seven runs in the last two innings to seal the win. Chandler Rogers was hot from the plate as he went 4-for-6, drove in one run and scored three runs. He doubled in the fifth and singled in the third, eighth, and ninth innings. The win came in large part thanks to Zack Rafuse’s dominant, six-strikeout performance. He allowed two earned runs, six hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings.
The bullpens for both teams were busy April 28 with 10 pitchers being used over nine innings. There were 25 total runs and 34 hits, which made for an active game. The Hawks had to come from behind in the ninth inning to pull out the win by scoring three runs, which came across the plate on two singles. Luke Sims got the win in relief for the Hawks.
In game one on April 30, the Hawks outlasted the Tigers after five lead changes, squeaking out a close win. The Tigers grabbed the early lead by scoring three runs in the first. The Hawks tallied one run in the bottom of the first and two runs in the second to tie the score. One run in the third put SGSC on top, but Andrew answered back with a run in the top of the fourth. With a tie score going into the bottom of the fifth, the Hawks managed to grab the lead on a groundout by Keven Acevedo that scored Cameron Coffey. Chip Devitt got it done on the mound for the Hawks. He allowed four runs over five innings, struck out six, walked one and gave up nine hits. SGSC’s hitting was led by Coffey. He went 3-for-4 and scored two runs.
The final game of the series saw SGSC get the victory over Andrew in seven innings. Mikal Flores came out swinging and got things going in the first inning with a single. Coffey came in with another single, bringing home baserunner Stephan Cruver. The lead stayed with the Hawks after the third, when two runs scored on an error and an RBI single by Wyatt Petrey. Petrey racked up two RBIs on three hits during the course of the game. SGSC got one-run rallies in the fourth and again in the sixth. Will Lane took care of business on the mound, allowing only one hit and no earned runs. He walked four and struck out one during his seven innings of work.
The Hawks will end their regular season with the series against ABAC and head into the GCAA Conference Tournament May 11-14 in Albany.
– Submitted by Amy Hancock, SGSC External Affairs Coordinator