AMERICUS - The 30th-ranked Georgia Southwestern baseball team jumped to a 7-1 lead on 7th-ranked Georgia College at Hurricane Stadium on Saturday and went on to win Game 1 of the Peach Belt Conference doubleheader, 7-4, clinching the weekend series. Georgia College scored the final six runs in the nightcap to win the second game of the afternoon, 9-4.
The Hurricanes end the weekend one game back in the PBC West Division standings, as Georgia College sits with a 24-10 overall record, 9-6 in the PBC. Southwestern is 20-14 overall and 8-7 in the PBC.
In Game 1 on Saturday, the Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead in the second as Andrew Archer, Jared Allen and Corey Benson all hit doubles in the inning.
After GC cut the lead in half with a run in the third inning, the Hurricanes scored a run in the fourth behind an RBI triple to center from Paschal Poston and added four more in the sixth, aided by two GC errors.
Cody Maas belted a three-run home run in the seventh, but GSW closer Gray Carden entered in the eighth and shut down the Bobcats, striking out five of seven batters faced.
Archer was a perfect 4-for-4 in the opener with a double for the Hurricanes.
Shawn Ward went 2-for-4 to lead GC at the plate.
Jody Sellars (2-3) earned the win with seven solid innings. He held the Bobcats to four hits, but made things interesting with eight walks. Of the four runs charged to Sellars, only one was earned. He struck out five.
Georgia College starter Eric Pettepher (4-2) suffered his second loss of the spring after 5 1/3 innings of work. Matthew Robinson (1/3 inning) and Walker McKinven (2 1/3 innings) combined to keep GSW scoreless over the final 2 2/3 innings.
In the nightcap, GSW came from behind to tie the game on two occasions and took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning, but Georgia College scored six unanswered runs to salvage the final game of the series. A five-run eighth for GC was the difference.
Archer knocked an RBI single in the first to give GSW a 1-0 advantage. GC answered with two runs in second and the Hurricanes tied the contest in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff home run by Benson. Michel Coffey added an RBI single in the fifth and the Hurricanes pushed across their final run in the sixth on a fielder's choice.
Travis Echols belted a two-run home run in the eighth to spark the Bobcats five-run inning. Tanner Funk added a two-run single.
GSW starter Zach Whitman (3-3) was roughed up for seven runs - five earned - on 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings of action. He struck out seven and walked a pair. Hunter Thompson tossed the final 1 2/3 innings. His two charged runs were unearned.
Reliever Taylor Hart (1-0) kept GSW scoreless over the final three innings to pick up his first win of the season for the Bobcats. Starter Jason Nicholas threw 4 2/3 innings, allowed seven hits, struck out four, walked two and gave up three runs.
Stephen Gaylor turned in a three-hit performance for the Hurricanes. Allen, Poston and John Duran had two hits apiece for GSW. Poston extended his team-leading hitting streak to nine games.
Funk, Ward, Echols and Josh Young had two hits apiece for Georgia College.
The Hurricanes host Auburn-Montgomery on Tuesday at 5 p.m.