NEWBERRY, S.C. | Matthew Mebane smacked three home runs as Georgia College & State University defeated Newberry College 9-7 in a non-conferece baseball game Tuesday (March 12) evening at the Smith Road Complex.
The Bobcats won their fourth consecutive game as they improved to 13-10, while the Wolves fell to 7-16. Georgia College steps back into Peach Belt Conference play when they host Georgia Southwestern State University in a 6 p.m. contest at John Kurtz Field.
Braeden Smith got GCSU to a 1-0 lead after an RBI single to left field in the top of the first inning. After Newberry scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, the Bobcats closed to 3-2 on
Gabriel Wuerth's sacrifice fly in the second. GCSU tied the game at 3 in the top of the third on a leadoff homer to left from Mebane.
The Wolves took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third, but the Bobcats took the lead after
Brent Burford and
Cam McNearney, who led off the fourth with back-to-back walks, both scored on a wild pitch. Mebane followed with a solo home run to left to give Georgia College at 6-4 lead.
The Wolves added another run in the fourth to get within 6-5 and it stayed that way until Mebane stroked a two-run homer to right-center field in the top of the seventh to give the Bobcats an 8-5 lead. Mebane, who leads the Bobcats with 10 home runs and is second in the PBC,  is the first Bobcat to hit three homers in a game since Logan Mattix turned the trick in a 16-14 win over Erskine College on March 21, 2017.
The Wolves got back within a run at 8-7 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Wuerth added an insurance RBI ground out in the top of the eighth to push the GCSU lead out to 9-7.
GCSU reliever
Christian Donaldson (1-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings, while
Lex Kenny earned his first save of 2024 with a scoreless eighth and ninth inning.
Smith and Mebane led the 11-hit attack with three hits each. Burford added a double for the Bobcats.
About GCSU AthleticsÂ
Owning the top Academic Success Rate among all public colleges and universities in Division II for three consecutive academic years, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won four consecutive Presidents' Awards for Academic Excellence, and are two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup and four-time winners of the PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in postseason competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports or subscribe to theÂ
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