MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia College baseball team (19-12, 10-5 PBC) used great pitching and timely hitting to down North Georgia (15-15, 5-11 PBC) 3-1 Saturday at John Kurtz Field.

The game went scoreless to the bottom of the sixth inning, as GC's Darin Wiltgen (Reno, Nev.) battled the Saints' Jacob Beauchamp pitch-for-pitch.

After an error and a Tanner Funk (Kearney, Mo.) single with an advance on a throw to third put runners on second and third with no outs, North Georgia brought the infield in to try and cut off the go-ahead run. After consecutive groundouts, it looked like the Saints might get out of the jam.

A walk later, Karsten Strieby (Blair, Was.) came to the plate with the bases loaded and two out. Strieby ripped an 0-1 pitch to centerfield to bring in two runs, giving GC a 2-0 lead.

North Georgia cut the lead in half with a run in the eighth, a bases-loaded hit batsman bringing in the run. Closer Matt LaMothe (Troy, Mich.) entered the game after that play, knocking down a hot shot back up the middle to squelch the rally.

LaMothe got the three outs to close the ninth, picking up his seventh save after GC added an eighth-inning insurance run on a Cody Maas (Alpharetta, Ga.) sacrifice fly.

Wiltgen (5-1) went 7 1/3 innings, allowing a single run with five strikeouts. Beauchamp (3-1) allowed just one earned run in the losing effort.

Funk was the lone multi-hit performer, going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. The Saints' designated hitter Travis Naraine finished 3-for-4 with a double, the game's lone extra-base hit.

GC increases its lead on the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) West Division, improving to 10-5, ahead of the University of Montevallo by three games in the loss column. North Georgia is positioned fourth with their 5-11 mark.

The Bobcats and Saints finish the three-game set with a doubleheader tomorrow, April 1 at 1 p.m.

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.