The South Georgia State College Hawks are 2-4 after the first week of the 2025 season. The Hawks have split with Santa Fe College and dropped three out of four to the NJCAA Division II national runner-up St. Johns River State College Vikings.
The four-game series against the Vikings are the most recent games SGSC has played. Friday afternoon, the Hawks and Vikings squared off in a double header in Douglas. St. Johns River took both, winning game one 8-0 and game two 5-4.
Sunday, SGSC traveled to Palatka, Fla., for two more against the Vikings. Game one went to the home team 7-6. Colton Whaley and Luke Boone led the way offensively for the Hawk, going 3-4 at the plate. They also drove in one run each. Chaz Encarnacion was 1-3 with two runs scored. Former Coffee Trojan Payton Bryant hit his first collegiate home run in the game as well.
Reliever Riley Barker, who threw 2 1/3 innings, was the winning pitcher. He struck out one, walked one, and gave up three runs – all earned.
Game two was a bit of an anomaly to say the least. Four Viking pitchers combined for a no-hitter; however, the Hawks still managed to win 2-1. Starter Tyler Helton gave up one earned run while reliever Jordan Clarke, the third pitcher of the day for St. Johns River, gave up an unearned run.
For the Hawks, Logan Taylor and CJ Chalk scored a run each. Starter Luke Smith got the win in four innings of work. He gave up one hit, no runs, struck out five, and walked one.
SGSC returns to action on Tuesday, February 4, against Florida State College at Jacksonville. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.