MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The No. 24 Georgia College baseball team (33-13, 19-9 PBC) split a doubleheader with University of North Georgia (21-27, 9-20 PBC) Saturday at John Kurtz Field. The Bobcats took the opener 6-5, and their late rally fell short 5-3 in the second game. 

In the first game, the Bobcats overcame a 5-2 deficit with runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead and hold on for the win. Junior Spencer Thomas (Loganville, Ga.) (4-0) registered the win in seven innings of work, while sophomore Jordan Brooks (Macon, Ga.) earned his third save of the season by pitching the final inning. Senior Jordan Modine (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) also threw for one inning in relief of Thomas, who allowed nine hits and four-earned runs. 

Both teams plated 10 hits apiece in game one with junior Clay Ardeeser (Loganville, Ga.) leading the way. The Bobcats' top hitter went 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI and two runs. Ardeeser had a home run, double and single, with the latter scoring the winning run. He started the scoring with a two-run homer in the second, and got one of the team's three doubles in the fifth adding another RBI before knocking in senior Mike McGraw (Newnan, Ga.) for the deciding run in the sixth inning. 

Senior Rob Hogenkamp (St. Louis, Mo.) and McGraw both added a pair of hits with the former scoring twice with one RBI and the latter also chipping in a run. 

In the second game, North Georgia cruised out to a 5-0 lead and the Bobcats rallied with runs in two of their last four at-bats. Junior Josh Taylor (Phoenix, Ariz.)(3-3) took the loss tossing seven innings. Taylor allowed nine hits and five runs with five strikeouts. 

Junior Steve Hazel (Kentwood, Mich.) had the hot bat for Georgia College in the second game. Hazel went 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run. He got the Bobcats on the board with a single in the sixth inning to score sophomore Jake Sandlin (Evans, Ga.) and then homered in the eighth for another pair of RBI. 

Ardeeser and senior Daniel Bick (Alpharetta, Ga.) also had a pair of hits, with the latter making a spectacular catch in the third inning that lead to a double play. North Georgia's Eason Spivey's line shot appeared to be out of Bick's reach, but the ball hawk corralled the ball at the tip of his glove after extending his vertical leap to the limit. 

The Bobcats held the Nighthawks off the board in the last four innings, but left seven runners stranded in their own last four at-bats. 

Georgia College will complete its three-game series with UNG and the regular season tomorrow afternoon for Senior Day at 1 p.m. at Kurtz Field. 

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 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 @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.