Less than a week ago, the Andrew College Tigers defeated the South Georgia State College Hawks in Cuthbert to end the regular season. Tuesday’s rematch in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association tournament in Tifton was a different story.
The Hawks defeated the Tigers 8-3 to advance to the second round of the tournament. SGSC jumped out to a 2-0 lead the fell behind 3-2 when Andrew scored three in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the frame, however, the Hawks re-took the lead with a five-run inning. They added a run in the eighth to increase their advantage to 8-3.
SGSC scored two in the second when Diego Gonzales singled to score Steven Tavares-Batista. Payton Bryant sacrificed Brice Marchman in for a 2-0 lead.
After getting behind by a run in the top of the fifth, the Hawks responded with a big bottom half of the inning, taking the lead for good. SGSC scored all of its runs with two outs. The Hawks tied the game when Bryant walked with the bases loaded, bring Jesse Brown home. The next hitter, Gavin Hamrick, was hit by a pitch, scoring Marchman. Tanner Langley followed with a double, driving in Gonzales and Bryant to pull ahead 7-3.
The Hawks’ final run of the game came in the eighth when Tavares-Batista led off the inning with a solo home run.
Tavares-Batista and Gonzales each had two hits. Tavares-Batista and Marchman scored twice. Bryant drove in a pair while Langley drove in three.
Blake Hughes, SGSC’s second pitcher of the day, took the win. He threw 1 2/3 innings, giving up three hits and striking out one.
The Hawks will play the Georgia Highlands Broncos Wednesday at 1 p.m. The Broncos defeated the Gordon State Highlanders 5-3 in their first game.
