COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Georgia Southwestern State University baseball team opened its three-game weekend series at Columbus State University with a 4-3 win on Friday night at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field. Columbus State cruised to a 12-0 win in Game 2 on Saturday before GSW rallied from a run down in the eighth inning to capture the rubber game, 5-4.

The Hurricanes exit the weekend with a record of 14-25 overall, 8-13 in the Peach Belt Conference, while Columbus State fell to 22-13, 9-9 in conference play.     
 
NOTES 

• GSW entered the weekend 3-19 at Columbus State since joining NCAA Division II in 2007.
• Columbus State had a 15-3 home record this season prior to the series.
• The Hurricanes had lost 11 straight regular season games against CSU coming into the weekend. 

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Tucker Smith improved his record to 7-2 with a 147-pitch, complete-game performance in Game 1 of the series. Smith comes out the weekend ranked third in the Peach Belt Conference in earned run average (2.04), tied for the lead in wins (7) and comfortable at the top in complete games (4).   
• Bo Halcomb led GSW at the plate over the weekend, going 4-for-10 with a double, a triple and three RBIs. He was walked twice. 
• Harrison Timberlake made his first collegiate start after serving as a reliever last season and the Hurricanes closer this spring. Timberlake held CSU to a run through six innings before exiting in the seventh.
• A.J. Hayes kept CSU off the board for the final 2 2/3 innings in the finale to pick up his second win of the season.    
• Miguel Urbina, fresh off a stint on the DL, delivered a two-run, game-winning home run in the eighth inning of the opener on Friday.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jonathan Martin opened the scoring in the series with two-out RBI single in the third inning of Game 1 to bring home Matthew Mamatas.
• Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Halcomb opened the frame with a triple and scored on the Hurricanes next at bat, a single by Tyler Skelton.
• Urbina provided the heroics with his two-run blast in the eighth off the Cougars ace, Kolton Ingram.  
• Smith locked in for the final two frames, retiring five consecutive batters before recording the final out for his seventh win this spring. 
• GSW surrendered seven runs in the first inning of Game 2 and never recovered. CSU led 9-0 after the second.
• Halcomb drove in Hunter Foster in the fourth inning for the first run of the game in the finale. 
• Timberlake did not allow a hit until the fourth inning.
• Halcomb doubled home a pair of runs in the sixth to put GSW ahead, 3-1.
• GSW trailed for the first time in the finale after CSU roped a three-run home run in the seventh. 
• Andy Moore brought home Martin, who had stole second a moment earlier, with a clutch two-out single in the eighth to tie the game at 4-4.
• A bases loaded, two-out walk to Martin in the ninth brought home the decisive run.
• Hayes forced three fly ball outs in the ninth.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Columbus State out-hit the Hurricanes in the series, 30-21.
• The Hurricanes left 23 runners on base, Columbus State stranded 22.
• GSW put the leadoff man aboard on 6 of 27 opportunities (.222), Columbus State was 9-for-26 (.346).
• Hurricane batters were 6-for-29 at the plate (.207) with two outs and 5-for-23 (.217) with an RBI opportunity.
• GSW's favorite inning to score in was the eighth. They pushed across three over the weekend.
• GSW pitchers walked only 10 batters over the series.  
• Columbus State generated 14 of its runs off Hurricanes starting pitching, five of its runs off the bullpen. 

UP NEXT

• The Hurricanes travel to Carrollton, Ga., Wednesday for a non-conference game against the University of West Georgia at 5 p.m.