COLUMBUS, Ga. – The long road back through the loser's bracket begins for West No. 1-seed Georgia College baseball (29-20) as the Bobcats fell 5-0 to East No. 4-seed Lander University (35-16) in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Tournament Wednesday night at Golden Park.

The PBC Pitcher of the Year Chris Thomas (8-2) was every bit as advertised, holding the GC bats to four hits and not a single walk in the complete game shutout, fanning 11.

It took to the bottom of the eighth for GC to get a runner in scoring position, but a double play helped end the threat for the Bobcats.

Thomas shut out the Bobcats during the regular season on four hits, spreading four singles out among four different GC hitters as he did tonight.

Travis Echols (Suwanee, Ga.), Cody Maas (Alpharetta, Ga.), Clay Ardeeser (Loganville, Ga.) and Benton Yaun (Marietta, Ga.) each recorded singles for GC. Yaun's safety extended his hit streak to 20 games.

Lefty starter Matt Kaplan (Alpharetta, Ga.) took the loss, going six innings allowing four runs and six hits. Kaplan (2-3) fanned six. Senior righty Derek McGowan (Raytown, Mo.) helped keep the Bobcats close, retiring eight of the last nine batters in the game.

The Bobcats will face East No. 2-seed Francis Marion University tomorrow, May 10 at 4 p.m. in an elimination game.

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.