Georgia Highlands splits doubleheader with Gordon State
The Georgia Highlands Chargers baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader with Gordon State CC winning the opener 9-6 but dropping the second game, 5-1, at LakePoint.
With the doubleheader split, Gordon State wins the week-long, four-game series three games to one and continues to lead the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association conference standings by a game over East Georgia CC.
In the first game Saturday, the Chargers led 4-0 after two innings and never trailed. The visiting Highlanders cut Georgia Highlands’ lead to 4-1 in the third and cut it to 6-5 in the top of the fifth, but a three-run Chargers’ fifth inning pushed the lead to 9-5 and GHC held on for a three-run win. Stevie Szucs (5 IP, 5ER, 8H, 1BB, 3K) tossed five innings for the Chargers’ pitching win. Logan Ward (2 IP, 1ER, 1H, 3BB, 3K) earned a two-inning save. Alex Marquand had two hits including a double and four RBI to pace the Georgia Highlands offense. Trace Twardoski contributed two hits and two RBI. Skylar McPhee also added two hits including a double and one RBI. In Game 2 Saturday, Gordon State pitcher Kolby Johnson (7 IP, 1ER, 3H, 2BB, 7K) tossed a complete game three-hitter to lead the Highlanders past the Chargers. The Highlanders took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and added a four-run third inning that turned out to be the difference in the game. Georgia Highlands’ only run came in the bottom of the third on a solo home run by Parker Orr. Jay Pendley had two hits for Gordon State and Cole Phillips drove in two runs with a double. Jacob Meyer (3 IP, 5ER, 7H, 3BB, 1K) suffered the pitching loss for Georgia Highlands. Dalton Rhadans (4 IP, 0R, 1H, 4K) tossed four scoreless innings of relief for the Chargers. Gordon State is now 23-4 overall and 6-1 in the GCAA. Georgia Highlands (18-12, 6-5) currently sits in third place in the conference. The Chargers open a four-game series with fourth place South Georgia CC Tuesday at 5 p.m. at LakePoint. The second game of the series will be Friday night at South Georgia and the series will conclude with a doubleheader back at LakePoint on Saturday, March 30.
