Montevallo, Al. —
The Georgia Southwestern baseball team earned a doubleheader split at Montevallo on Saturday afternoon behind a stellar pitching performance by Matthew Suggs in the nightcap. Montevallo won the opener, 7-0, and GSW grabbed Game 2, 3-1.
The Hurricanes finished the day at 3-6 overall and 1-1 in Peach Belt Conference play. Montevallo finished at 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the PBC.
Montevallo broke open a scoreless game in the sixth inning with four runs on three hits and a walk. Michael Simmons drove in three of the runs on his one-out double to left-center field.
The Hurricanes were unable to do much against Falcon starter Michael Shreves (2-1) who retired the first 11 GSW batters in order. The Hurricanes finished with four hits in the game. John Duran and Corey Benson had doubles for Southwestern.
GSW starter Frank Ambrosino (0-1) pitched well before stumbling in the sixth. Ambrosino did not allow a hit until the third inning and scattered a total of four hits through five innings. Justin Lott came on to pitch 1 1/3 innings and Drew Cataldo threw the eighth.
Randall Sheffield put Southwestern ahead immediately in Game 2 when he opened with a leadoff home run.
After Montevallo pushed across a run in the third inning to tie the ballgame, Stephen Eldridge decided it was his turn to go deep and he put GSW ahead for good with a solo shot in the fourth.
While the Hurricanes would add an insurance run in the fifth inning when John Duran scored on a Michel Coffey sacrifice fly, GSW starter Matthew Suggs (1-1) wouldn't need any help after the Eldridge blast. Suggs tossed a complete game and held Montevallo to three hits as he struck out a program-best (NCAA era) 12 batters. Suggs retired the side in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings before surrendering a two-out single in the ninth. Fittingly, the game ended on a strikeout.
Sheffield posted the Hurricanes first multi-hit performance in the series, adding a triple to his leadoff home run.
Josh Clemen (1-1) was the tough-luck losing pitcher for Montevallo as he went the distance as well and allowed three runs - two earned - while striking out five and walking two.
On Sunday the Falcons scored eight runs in the first four innings on their way to a 13-3 victory over the ‘Canes to take the three-game weekend series 2-1.
Montevallo (5-5) set the tone early in the game when a three-run homer from UM's Vinny Rodriguez in the bottom of the first put the Falcons on the board.
The Hurricanes notched a run in the second inning but UM scored five runs over the next two innings to hold a commanding 8-1 advantage going into the fifth inning.
The Falcons added five insurance runs in the sixth and seven innings to best the Hurricanes 13-3.
Georgia Southwestern (3-7) had 10 hits on the day paced by Michel Coffey's three-hit effort.
GSW's Earl Dupree (0-2) got the loss on the afternoon as the freshman tossed for three innings giving up eight runs on five hits.
Montevallo's Edward Brandsema (1-2) got his first win of the season for the Falcons as the sophomore worked five innigs giving up one run on four hits with six strikeouts.
Georgia Southwestern will be back in action Thursday, Feb. 21, at 5 p.m. as the Hurricanes take on Albany State at Huricane Field.
Local Sports
GSW takes one of three from Montevallo behind Suggs’ 12 Ks
- Local Sports
-
-
Lady Eagles dominate final track meet to claim Class A state championship
The GHSA Class A state track meet held this past weekend was just another meet for the Marion County Lady Eagles. After dominating the area and sectional meets earlier this season, the Lady Eagles went out on top by dominating the state meet to earn their school its second state championship of the weekend following the boy’s tennis team’s title-clinching match win on Saturday morning.
-
Eagles claim state tennis title behind singles sweep
The Marion County boys tennis team made history this season with the school’s first ever state championship in tennis. They faced area rival Irwin County in the state final and were able to earn the championship with wins in the three singles positions.
-
Raiders advance to quarterfinals with convincing win in deciding game 3
The Southland Academy Raiders quickly found themseleves with their backs against the wall in the first round of the GISA Class AAA baseball playoffs last weekend. After surrendering nine runs to the Loganville Chirstian Academy Lions in the first inning in the first of a three-game series, it looked as if Southland might be traveleing back to Americus early. The resilient Raiders were not looking for an early return trip, however, and after a tremendous comeback in a 11-10 opening game loss Southland rebounded with two dominating victories to move on to the quarterfinals on Thursday.
-
Sumter County Gymnastics Academy excels in state championship meets
Over the past three weekends, Sumter County Gymnastics Academy has competed in the 2013 State Gymnastics meets. April 19-21, the Level 4s, Prep 1s and Prep 2s competed in Cobb County and April 26-28, the Level 2s, Level 3s, and Prep Beginners competed in Bainbridge.
-
Americus-Sumter gymnastics team wins 2013 Gym Nest meet
-
Relay team propels Wildcats to 9th place finish at state meet
The Schley County boy’s track team knew that the competition would be tough at the GHSA Class A State Meet last week, but that didn’t stop the Wildcats from claiming a ninth place finish in the 29 team season finale.
-
Schley’s Barnes, Holloway sign with GSW
Schley County seniors Justin Barnes and Mitch Holloway signed letters of intent Friday with Georgia Southwestern State University to play baseball for the Hurricanes. Each of the seniors was an integral player on Schley County’s 2013 region championship team and each left profound marks on the Wildcats team this season.
-
'Canes golfers finish 10th; Gahman advances to Nationals
The 22nd-ranked Georgia Southwestern golf team made a run at top squads during Wednesday's final round, moving as close as two shots within a birth in the NCAA National Championships, before finishing in 10th place at the 20-team NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional. All-Peach Belt Conference First Team honoree Nate Gahman led the Hurricanes throughout the three-day, three-round event and earned a trip to the national tournament as an individual after carding a 3-over par 219 total.
-
Panthers tennis season comes to an end with second round loss to Howard
In the second round of the GHSA Class AAAA boy’s tennis playoffs, the Americus-Sumter Panthers were giving the difficult task of making a long road trip to Macon to challenge the Reigon 2 champion Howard High School Huskies. Despite putting up a good fight on the road, Americus-Sumter’s boy’s came up just short to the Huskies in a difficult 3-1 season-ending loss.
-
SCPRD track team dominates district meet, qualifies 40 for state
In the district track meet held recently at Americus-Sumter High School, the Sumter County Parks and Recreation Department (SCPRD)track team dominated the competition to take the district title and qualify 40 participants for the state track meet in Carrollton, Ga. this weekend.
The SCPRD track team earned the district title in a meet with teams from Irwin, Thomas, Crisp, and Chattahoochee counties. - More Local Sports Headlines
-
