SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Georgia Southwestern baseball team was swept in a three-game Peach Belt Conference series at Armstrong State University over the weekend. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opener before falling, 9-8. Armstrong cruised to an 11-4 win in Game 2 and held off GSW, 6-4, in the finale.
The Hurricanes have lost six games in a row after opening the season 9-0, and are 0-6 in the PBC while Armstrong improved to 8-6 overall, 4-5 in conference play.
GSW returns to action on Wednesday with a 5 p.m. non-conference game at Valdosta State.
GAME 1: GSW 8, ARMSTRONG 9
Ryan Patterson hit a solo home run and a two-run double in the opener to lead Armstrong to a 9-8 come-from-behind victory.
GSW scored five runs in the fifth inning behind RBI doubles from Devyn Newberry and Dakota Long to jump out to a 6-1 lead. Nick Fonseca added a two-run single in the inning.
Armstrong got three runs back in the bottom of the fifth and took the lead for good in the sixth with another three-run frame.
Southwestern starting pitcher Earl Dupree exited in the fifth after allowing the first four batters of the inning to reach base. Dupree was charged with four runs, walked five and struck out three. Coty Graham pitched two innings and surrendered three runs. Armstrong scored the final two runs off Mitch Holloway (0-1).
Newberry and Zach Barron had three hits apiece to lead Southwestern. Newberry added a pair of RBIs. Brett Burgess and Davey King added two hits apiece.
Patterson and Cody Sherlin collected three hits apiece for Armstrong.
Pirates starter Corey Kafka pitched seven innings, allowed 12 hits and six runs, walked one and struck out four. Tyler Graham (1-2) covered the final two frames.
GAME 2: GSW 4, ARMSTRONG 11
The Pirates scored the first seven runs in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader and never looked back.
Davey King belted a RBI double in the sixth inning to put GSW on the board and a RBI single from Dakota Long highlighted a two-run seventh for the Hurricanes.
King led off the eighth with a home run, his first of the season, to round out the scoring for GSW.
Southwestern starting pitcher Jordan McIlwain (2-2) was charged with six runs and seven hits. He walked four and struck out one. Matt Hubbard, Michael Ranieri and Drew Powers covered the final 3 2/3 innings on the hill.
King, Long and Devyn Newberry had two hits apiece to lead the Hurricanes.
Cody Sherlin was 5-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and four RBIs for Armstrong. Chandler Corley added three hits.
Armstrong starter J.T. Phillips (3-1) pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowed three runs, scattered five hits, walked five and struck out nine. Tyler Green closed out the afternoon for the Pirates.
GAME 3: GSW 4, ARMSTRONG 6
A five-run fourth inning for Armstrong put GSW in a hole too deep to climb out from in the series finale on Sunday.
The Hurricanes chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and another in the seventh to pull within a run, 5-4, but Armstrong added an insurance run in the seventh.
Southwestern starting pitcher Layne Gusler (1-2) threw four innings, allowed five runs and six hits, walked two and struck out one. Chad Adkins covered three innings in relief, was charged with one unearned run, walked two and struck out four. Kyle Spinks threw a scoreless eighth.
Evan Alderman, Alex Kranick, Nick Fonseca, Josh Logan and Zach Barron had two hits apiece to lead the Hurricanes.
Stetson Smith was the only Armstrong batter with more than one hit as he finished the game 2-for-4.
Armstrong used four pitchers in the finale. Starter Sid Royal tossed 4 1/3 innings and did not factor into the decision. Avery Fagan (1-1) threw 2 2/3 innings of relief. Caleb Woods was tagged for two hits in his 1/3 of an inning on the mound and Tyler Graham threw the final 1 2/3 to get his first save of the spring.