Led by a seven run first inning, Georgia Southwestern State University (5-11) cruised to a 14-5 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne College (11-11), Wednesday afternoon at Hurricane Field.

Twelve Hurricane batters came to the plate in the first. Nick Rex and Daniel Lynn started things off with back-to-back singles. Following a walk to Patrick McCarthy, Francisco Gomez belted a double to left-center to drive in Rex and Lynn. Daniel Stokes singled to score McCarthy. Zach Stanton followed Stokes with a single of his own to score Gomez and Byron Hayes doubled to left to score Stanton and Stokes. After stealing third, Hayes later scored on a Jordan Mullis single. All-in-all, the first seven GSW batters reached base.

Lenoir-Rhyne scored three runs in the fourth and one run in both the fifth and sixth frames to pull within 7-5, but the Hurricanes answered with a run in the bottom half of the sixth and Hayes belted a three-run homer in the seventh to seal the victory for GSW. The ‘Canes went on to add three more runs in the eighth. Hayes finished the afternoon with five RBIs. Nick Rex and Zach Stanton added three hits apiece. The Hurricanes, as a team, finished with 18 hits.

Hurricane starting pitcher James Wilson (2-1) had a strong performance going 6 1/3 innings, striking out six and allowing five runs, four earned to get the win. Chris Carroll and Brandon Reeder held the Bears scoreless over the last 2 2/3 innings. Head Coach Bryan McLain was, "extremely pleased with the team's performance." He went on to add, "The guys played with a lot of confidence. We did a good job in all phases. We put together a complete ballgame."

GSW had not played a game since February 27 and Coach McLain viewed the break as a positive. "Since we had the down time, hopefully we recharged our batteries. This was a good natural boost heading into the weekend with GCSU."

The Hurricanes improved to 5-11 on the season. GSW heads to Milledgeville on Friday to take on Georgia College & State University in a PBC matchup.