AMERICUS - The Georgia Southwestern baseball team was swept in a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader against Columbus State University on Sunday afternoon at Hurricane Stadium. Columbus State won the opener, 12-4, and prevailed in a 13-inning marathon, 10-8, to wrap up the weekend series.
The Hurricanes ended the day with an overall record of 17-19 and a mark of 3-18 in the PBC while Columbus State improved to 26-10 overall, 12-6 in conference play.
GSW hosts Thomas University on Tuesday for a non-conference game at 5 p.m.
GAME 1: COLUMBUS STATE 12, GSW 4
Columbus State exploded for seven runs in the second inning and cruised to victory in the day's opening game.
Hurricanes starting pitcher Layne Gusler (1-6) exited in the fourth inning. Drew Powers covered 3 1/3 innings of relief. Earl Dupree held the Cougars scoreless for the final two frames with one hit, one walk and a pair of strikeouts.
Devyn Newberry and Alex Kranick had two hits apiece for GSW.
Jackson Oliver went 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and five RBIs to lead Columbus State. Tyler Fichter was 3-for-3, scored three times and drove in two.
Albert Harless (4-2) threw 118 pitches over eight innings, scattered seven hits, walked three, struck out five and gave up a pair of runs. Jacob Boccucci pitched the ninth.
GAME 2: COLUMBUS STATE 10, GSW 8 (13 INNINGS)
The Hurricanes rallied from a four-run deficit in the ninth to force extra innings in the series finale, but it was a CSU game-saving catch in center field for the second out in the ninth that prevented a walk-off win for GSW.
GSW had a runner in scoring position each of the extra frames, including bases loaded in the 13th, but could capitalize only once (12th inning) to match CSU and keep the marathon going. The teams combined to use 11 pitchers in a contest that lasted four hours and 45 minutes.
Starting pitcher Dylan Brown threw 5 1/3 innings for the Hurricanes. Mitch Holloway got GSW through the eighth. Chad Adkins was solid for four innings, holding the Cougars to one run without walking a batter and Matt Hubbard (0-1) took the tough-luck loss.
Dakota Long had three hits and three RBIs for GSW. Devyn Newberry and Zach Barron collected two hits and two RBIs apiece.
Columbus State got three-hit performances from Ryan Ihle, Mike McClellan and Christian Miller. McClellan had a home run and Miller blasted two.
Cougars starting pitcher Caleb Kutsche exited with a three-run lead after the sixth, but did not factor into the decision. Robert Hayes (2-1) threw 3 2/3 innings and led CSU into the 13th. Sean Muller recorded the final out to pick up his first save of the spring.