Chargers, Highlanders split Tuesday doubleheader

Georgia Highlands baseball split a conference doubleheader Tuesday winning the first game 12-6 before dropping the second game, 8-4.

The Chargers used an eight run second inning in Tuesday afternoon’s first game en route to a 12-6 win over Gordon College.

Georgia Highlands pounded out 17 hits in the victory including a pair of home runs. Seven Chargers had at least two hits in the game.

Joe Sutton had three hits including one of the homers and three RBIs. Max Kops also had three hits and two RBIs. David Smith had two hits including the other home run and three RBIs. Ben Olson contributed a pair of hits and one RBI. Trenton Parker finished with two hits including one double. Trace Twardoski also had two hits. Connor Todaro doubled and drove in three runs.

Starter Conner Perry earned the pitching win with five and two-thirds innings of work. He gave up five earned runs on seven hits and two walk with six strikeouts. Ryan Suppa wrapped up the win with three and one-third innings on the mound. He yielded one earned run on three hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Gordon State bounced back in Game 2 to win 8-4.

The Highlanders took a 6-0 lead in the third inning and never trailed. The Chargers scored twice in the fourth inning to narrow the lead to 7-2 and added two more runs in the fifth inning to make it 7-4. That was as close as Georgia Highlands would get.

The Chargers utilized five pitchers in the loss.

Chase Townsend (2 IP, 6ER, 7H, 2BB, 3K) started on the mound was tagged with the loss. Caleb Garner (2 IP, 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 4K), Zack Valentine (1 IP, 0R, 1H), Matthew Silka (1 IP, 1ER, 1H), and Chandler Wood (1 IP, 1K) also pitched.

Ben Olson had two hits including a homer and two RBIs. Gavin Harmon also had two hits. Palmer Sapp, Trenton Parker, and Connor Todaro contributed one hit each. Trace Twardoski and Zayd Brannigan each drove in a run for the Chargers.

With the doubleheader split, Gordon is now 28-19 for the year and 17-11 in conference play.

Georgia Highlands (39-11, 18-8) travels to Gordon State for a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.