ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team opened its series against Georgia College with a pair of come-from-behind wins, defeating the Bobcats 13-8 and 7-6 at the Turley Athletic Complex in a twinbill on Saturday afternoon.
Eckerd opened the day in an early 2-0 hole after the top of the third inning. The Tritons flipped the scripts in the bottom of the frame with a four-run inning to take the 4-2 advantage.
Eckerd added another four-run inning in the fourth for a comfortable 8-2 lead. Gavin Grubbs came in relief in the fifth inning and struck out three straight for a perfect frame. The Bobcats added one run in the sixth and three in the top of the eighth to show they had some life left, decreasing their deficit to 8-6. Eckerd countered with five runs in the bottom of the frame to bring EC's total to double digits at 13-6.
The Bobcats attempted a last-ditch comeback, putting up two runs in the ninth before popping up to Tyler Cox at third to close out game one.
The homerun derby of game two began in a similar fashion, as Eckerd found themselves in a 2-0 hole to open the game once again. An RBI single through the left side gap by Bradley White cut Eckerd's deficit in half. The homeruns began in the third, as Mebane homered to right field for his second home run of the day. In the bottom of the frame, Kyle Abbott and Tyler Cox hit solo homeruns on back-to-back pitches, with Abbott hitting one deep over the centerfield wall and Cox hitting the scoreboard in right. The pair of homers shortened Eckerd's deficit back to one, trailing 4-3.
In the Bobcats' second at-bat of the fourth, Mason Poole sent one over the centerfield wall for the fourth homerun of the contest, increasing Georgia College's lead back to two. The Tritons retaliated in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double by Reid Lisle. Eckerd exploded in the sixth, adding three runs on White's two-run single and an RBI by Lisle to take EC's first lead, 7-5. Georgia College added one more homerun in the eighth before Rick Koch closed the game and earned the save, Eckerd winning 7-6.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
FINAL: Eckerd 13, Georgia College 8
WP: Gavin Grubbs (2-0) LP: Bradley Wilson (0-1) S: Wil Stockman (2) HR: Matthew Mebane (2)
Game Two
FINAL: Eckerd 7, Georgia College 6
WP: Jackson Mueller (1-0) LP: John Luke Glanton (1-1) S: Rick Koch (1) HR: Matthew Mebane (3), Hank Noonan (1), Mason Poole (2), Kyle Abbott (1), Tyler Cox (1)
RECORDS: Eckerd 3-2; Georgia College 4-2
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Cox led the team with five hits on the day. He went 5-for-10 from the plate, with four RBIs and two runs in the doubleheader.
- Reid Lisle and White both had four RBIs on the day. Lisle hit 4-for-6 with four walks through both games.
- Eckerd's bullpen struck out 16 batters on the day, led by Grubbs with five strikeouts. Austin Kapela and Rene Ramos each added four, while Jackson Mueller tallied three.
- Georgia College had no errors in game one, while Eckerd had one.
- Mueller picked up his first career win on the mound.
- Cox and Abbott added their first homeruns of the season.
UP NEXT
The Tritons and Bobcats will be back at the Turley Athletic Complex Sunday to complete the series at 12:00 PM.
