South Georgia evens series with Georgia Highlands

The second game of the four-game Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association series between Georgia Highlands and South Georgia CC went to the visiting Tigers Friday evening at LakePoint in Emerson, 11-1.

The Chargers won the series opener Tuesday in Douglas, 8-6.

Georgia Highlands actually scored first on a Nick Fink solo homerun in the second inning, but SGCC struck for two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take a 5-1 lead. A six-run ninth inning by the Tigers put the game away.

Tanner Thomson (5 IP, 2R, 1ER, 4H, 2BB, 6K) was tagged with the GHC pitching loss. The Chargers used six other pitchers including Tristan Roberts, Bradley Hood, Chris Morton, Dalton Isley, Trey Lang, and Blake Metivier.

Cayden Hatcher (8 IP, 1ER, 5H, 1BB, 7K) went eight strong innings for South Georgia to pick up the win. Shawn Blue struck out the side tossing a scoreless ninth.

Connor Durden and Chase Hinson combined for four hits and six RBI to lead the Tigers at the plate. Mikal Flores added a 3-for-5 performance with an RBI for South Georgia.

Brandon Bell, Zach McCrum, Mitch Burger, and Devin Bilardello had the other Chargers’ hits — all singles.

South Georgia CC improved to 24-17 overall and 9-5 in the GCAA. Georgia Highlands is now 23-19 overall and 8-6 in conference play. Both teams remain in contention for the regular season conference title with Darton College currently leading. The Cavaliers (9-4 in GCAA) have three games remaining in their series this weekend at Gordon College (7-6 in GCAA). Georgia Highlands and South Georgia conclude the week-long series Saturday with a 1pm doubleheader at LakePoint in Emerson.