by Tyler Peck, sports information graduate assistant

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - The No. 23 Georgia College & State University baseball team (7-5, 0-1 PBC) lost their Peach Belt Conference (PBC) opener Saturday night to No. 27 North Georgia (12-5, 3-1 PBC), 10-2 at John Kurtz Field.

The Bobcats had two batters who had multi-hit games as senior leftfielder Kyle Allen (Conyers, Ga.) and junior catcher Richard Pirkle (Norcross, Ga.) each had two hits. Allen went 2-for-4 with two singles and Pirkle also hit 2-for-4 with a single and team-best seventh home run of the season, a solo shot in the ninth.

Pirkle leads the team batting (.425), slugging (1.000), RBI (22) and total bases (40).

In the second inning, second baseman Jason Veyna (Lamar, Colo.) hit an RBI double to knock in Milledgeville's hometown heroAndrew Evans.

Alpharetta native Matt Kaplan (2-1) picked up his first loss of the season. The junior lefty went 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs while striking out two. Junior Eric Pettepher (Gordon, Ga.) finished the final 5 2/3, recording seven strikeouts and giving up five runs.

North Georgia's Chris Rearick (4-0) pitched a solid 8 1/3 innings, scattering eight hits and giving up two runs while fanning nine batters.

The Saints' Kenny Bellevance had the hot stick going 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.

The teams will meet tomorrow in a doubleheader to finish the three-game series, the first game starting at 2 p.m.

The GCSU Department of Athletics, winners of the 2008-09 PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, GCSU prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the Bobcats' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at Twitter.com username GCSUSID for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCSUBobcats.com to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GCSU Athletics Hall of Fame.