Box Score AIKEN, S.C. – With a series victory hanging in the balance, it took extra frames for the Georgia College baseball team (9-6, 2-1 PBC) to beat No. 29 USC Aiken 10-8 Sunday. Two runs in the top of the 12th and a scoreless bottom half gave the Bobcats a victory in their first Peach Belt Conference (PBC) series of 2012.
Tied 8-8 into the 12th inning, Josh Young (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.) led off with a single, advancing to second on a Pacer error. After a hit-batsman and a fielder's choice loaded the baseswith just one out, Heine Rivera (Fayetteville, Ga.) delivered with a single to right for a 9-8 lead. Another out later, a bases-loaded walk gave GC a big insurance run. Both Young and Rivera made the most of their lone hits of the contest.
Shortstop Tanner Funk (Kearney, Mo.) had his first four-hit game of the young season, going 4-for-7 with two RBI and a run. Catcher Cody Maas (Alpharetta, Ga.) swatted two solo home runs, giving him a team-high five on the season, finishing 3-for-5.
Second baseman Daniel Bick (Alpharetta, Ga.) was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run. Bick had a double, while Funk added a pair.
The Bobcats nearly didn't need the extra frames, leading 8-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. The Pacers responded on their home turf for a seven-run outburst and an 8-8 tie at the end of regulation.
Bobcat reliever Matt LaMothe (Troy, Mich.) worked the final 4 1/3 strong innings, allowing three hits but no runs, fanning four in the win (2-0). Pacer reliever Jake Padgett took the loss (0-1). Aiken shortstop Stephen Carmon went 3-for-6 with a run.
This marks the second-straight year the Bobcats have won the opening PBC series of the season, sweeping North Georgia last year.
The Bobcats are back in action Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m., travelling to Newberry College.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/BobcatSports and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.
