The South Georgia State College Hawks and the Tallahassee State College Eagles split a doubleheader at Crider Field Saturday in Douglas. The Hawks took game one 5-2 but the Eagles rebounded for a 10-9 game two victory.
SGSC shortstop Talon Daignault (sophomore, Camden County) led the Hawks in game one, going 3-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore starter Luke Smith (Social Circle) went 6 1/3 innings for the win. He struck out four, walked three, and gave up two runs (both earned).
The game was tied at one apiece until the fifth, when the Hawks scored four to pull ahead for good.
The nightcap followed a different script. The Eagles were up 4-2 after two and increased their advantage to 6-4 after four. Then they broke the game open in the sixth, scoring four to take a 10-4 lead.
The Hawks, however, weren’t done. They scored five runs, all with two outs, on home runs by Dalton Smith (sophomore, Valwood) and Cole Rambler (freshman, Ponte Vedra) to cut TSC’s lead to one. In the seventh, the tying run reached first with one out when Alex Bairan (redshirt sophomore, New College of Florida) singled. Eagles pitcher Cash Clementi was unfazed and struck out the next two Hawks to end the rally before it began.
Rambler was 3-4 with two runs and three RBI. Jesse Brown (sophomore, Stauton River, Virginia) and Diego Gonzalez (freshman, Tallulah Falls) had two hits each. The Hawks used four pitchers with starter Carson Ward (sophomore, Calvary Christian) taking the loss. He struck out four, didn’t walk anyone, and surrendered four earned runs on three hits.
The Hawks have two more games before the conference schedule begins: a Tuesday, February 24 doubleheader at home against the Brewton Parker JV squad and another doubleheader on Thursday, February 26 against USC-Salkehatchie in Allendale, South Carolina. On Tuesday, March 3, the Hawks travel to Cartersville for the first conference game of the year against Georgia Highlands.
SGSC is 11-9 on the season and in second place (behind Georgia Highlands) in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association standings.
