Chargers drop series opener at Gordon State
Georgia Highlands lost the first game of a four-game Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association series Tuesday night to Gordon State College in Barnesville, 11-5.
The Chargers, currently tied for third in the GCAA, will host the final three games of the series Friday and Saturday at LakePoint in Emerson.
GHC took a 5-0 lead after the top of fourth inning, but the game’s momentum turned from there.
The Chargers scored a run without a base hit in the second inning on a hit batsman, a walk, a fielder’s choice, and a ground out RBI by Bronco O’Brien.
In the third, Grant Bodison drove in one run with a line drive single and a second run scored on a passed ball.
In the fifth, the Chargers went up 5-0 on an RBI double by John White that scored O’Brien and an RBI single by Matt Vaccaro.
A pair of Gordon College two-run home runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings narrowed the margin to 5-4 and the Highlanders took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of singles and a double.
The floodgates opened in the bottom of the eighth as Gordon scored five times with help from the Chargers.
Four walks (one intentional), a wild pitch, a two-run double, a throwing error, and a sacrifice fly enabled the five runs on only one hit in the inning.
Britt Buckelew (1 IP, 1ER, 2H, 0BB) was saddled with the pitching loss in relief of starter Jake Lovvorn (5 IP, 4ER, 5H, 3BB, 2K) and Sam Sowerbrower (1 IP, 1ER, 2H, 1BB). Ryan Bramlett (0.0 IP, 2ER, 0H, 2BB) failed to retire a batter in the eighth. Kyle Brady (0.1 IP, 2ER, 2BB, 1K) and Peyton Tennant (0.2 IP, 1R, 0ER, 1H, 0BB) also pitched in the eighth.
O’Brien (RBI), White (double, RBI), and Vaccaro (double, RBI) had two hits each for the Chargers. Bodison (RBI), Nick Fink, and Devin Bilardello had the other GHC hits.
Georgia Highlands is now 32-17 overall and 9-8 in the GCAA. The Chargers trail conference leader East Georgia (14-7 GCAA) and second place ABAC (11-9 GCAA) with seven games remaining on their conference schedule.
With their win, Gordon College improved to 11-32 overall and 7-10 in the GCAA.
