MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The Georgia Southwestern baseball team swept Saturday's Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at the University of Montevallo, 20-16 in Game 1 and 19-13 in Game 2, only to have the hosts salvage a game in the series by winning the finale on Sunday, 13-8.
GSW senior Alex Kranick extended his record-setting hitting streak to 26 games. Jonathan Martin went 7-for-15 (.467) and hit for the cycle over the three-game set for the second consecutive PBC series. Martin leads the league with a .448 batting average in conference games. Zach Barron blasted three home runs and scored eight times over the weekend while going 5-for-11 (.455) at the plate.
The Hurricanes finished the weekend with a record of 15-21 overall, 8-10 in the PBC to stay ahead of Montevallo in the conference standings. The Falcons exit the series 22-18 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
GSW returns to home to host Tuskegee in a non-conference game on Tuesday at 5 p.m. from Hurricane Stadium.
GAME 1: GSW 20, MONTEVALLO 16
The Hurricanes rallied from an early 10-1 deficit to post the most runs scored in a Peach Belt game in school history. The offensive outburst started in the fifth inning and continued through the ninth. GSW scored 18 runs over the final five frames.
Martin and Josh Logan accounted for four runs in the fifth thanks to a pair of home runs. Logan opened the inning with a solo shot and Martin followed with a three-run blast after Kranick and Evan Alderman were walked.
Jared Jones drove in three runs with a double in the sixth and scored later in the inning off a wild pitch to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the weekend, 11-10. Montevallo answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to regain the advantage.
Bradley Hough sparked a four-run eighth inning with a three-run home run and GSW pieced together a four-hit, four-run ninth inning to put the game out of reach.
GSW relief pitcher Mitch Holloway (4-2) was called on to silence the Falcons bats over the final two innings. Holloway picked up the win after holding Montevallo to a pair of hits and no runs.
GSW outhit the Falcons, 15-14. Logan led Hurricane batters with three hits and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Jones drove in five.
Caleb Ledbetter, Tyler Krabbe and Collin Dupree had three hits apiece for Montevallo. Krabbe drove in four.
GAME 2: GSW 19, MONTEVALLO 13
Both sides picked up where they left off in the opener to start Game 2.
GSW took a 4-0 lead in the first inning sparked by a two-out, three-run double from Dakota Long. Will Redding added an RBI double.
Montevallo took a short-lived lead after scoring a pair in the first and five in the second.
A six-run third inning put the Hurricanes ahead for good. Barron drilled a two-run blast to left, Alderman added an RBI single and Martin doubled to bring in a run. A Montevallo throwing error allowed two more runs to score.
Logan added an RBI double in the sixth and capped off his evening with a three-run shot in seventh.
GSW outhit Montevallo, 16-12, and eight batters picked up at least one RBI. Long and Logan led the Hurricanes with four apiece. Logan and Jones had three hits. GSW produced three or more runs in eight innings over Saturday's doubleheader.
GSW starting pitcher Dylan Brown (3-5) went 5 1/3 innings, threw 132 pitches and kept the Hurricanes out in front. He walked five batters and struck out eight. Matt Hubbard (1 1/3 inning) and Coty Graham covered things the rest of the way. Graham did not allow a run over his 2 1/3 innings on the hill and struck out a pair.
Chad Wagner went 3-for-4 with a pair of walks and two RBIs to lead Montevallo.
GAME 3: GSW 8, MONTEVALLO 13
The Hurricanes collected five more hits (15-10) than Montevallo in the finale, but left six more runners on base (10-4) in what proved to be the downfall of their comeback effort on Sunday. GSW had runners on the corners in the ninth inning when the final out was made.
Barron opened the scoring with a home run in the second inning and Hough belted his second round-tripper of the weekend with a solo shot later in the frame to put GSW up, 2-0.
Montevallo, however, made the most of three big innings at the plate to put GSW away. The Falcons scored four in the second, four more in the fourth and another four in the fifth inning to jump out to a 12-5 lead, which would prove to be enough for the home team to salvage a game in the series.
Martin and Hough finished with three hits apiece on Sunday to lead the Hurricanes. Martin added four RBIs.
GSW starting pitcher Jordan McIlwain (2-5) threw four innings before Lawson Stewart and AJ Hayes split the final four frames.
Wagner added another strong performance at the plate for Montevallo, going 2-for-5 with a double and four RBIs.