TIGERVILLE, S.C. | Matthew Mebane smack three homers and drove in eight runs and Bradley Wilson tossed a complete game as Georgia College & State University eased by the University of Mount Olive 14-5 in the second round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional No. 2 Friday (May 17) evening at Ray and Bea Dillard Field at Ashmore Park.

The seventh-seeded Bobcats, who have won eight games in a row, improved to 36-20, while the No. 19-ranked Trojans, who are seeded third in the regional, fell to 38-17. GCSU advances to Saturday's (May 18) final at 4 p.m., while Mount Olive will face Wingate University in a noon elimination game. The winner of that game will face the Bobcats, who will only need to win once to advance to the Super Regional, while either Mount Olive or Wingate will need to win twice.

Mebane swatted a pair of three-run homers and a two-run moon shot that ran his season total to 20, which ties the Dublin, Georgia, native with GCSU Hall of Famer Keith Slocumb for third on the all-time Bobcat list for home runs in a single. Slocumb connected on 20 during the 1985 season. Fellow GCSU Hall of Famer Phil Arp holds the mark with 23 set during the 1983 campaign.

GCSU jumped out to an 11-0 lead through the first four innings. Braeden Smith had a walk and Brandon Bellflower followed with a single before Mebane connected on a three-run homer to left-center field in the first off UMO starter Greyson Linderman (3-3). A Rand Bestermann ground out and a Gabriel Wuerth sacrifice fly pushed across two more runs in the second. The Bobcats added four more runs in the third as they took advantage of two walks, a hit batter, two singles and three wild pitches. Evan Cowan drove in a run on a hustle infield single and Mason Poole had an RBI single to left-center field. Mebane's two-run 412-foot homer to left-center field pushed the lead to 11-0.

The Trojans got four runs back in the sixth inning as Dylan Jefferies and Anthony Mitta hit two-run homers.

The Bobcats pushed their lead to 14-5 as Mebane connected on a three-run homer to left-center field. It was the second time this season that Mebane posted three home runs in a game as he turned the hat trick in GCSU's 9-7 road win against Newberry College March 12.

Wilson (4-3) threw 119 pitches as he tossed his first complete game of the season. Wilson retired 10 batters in a row and 13 of 14 at one point during the game. Wilson scattered seven hits and struck out five.

Mebane led the Bobcat hitting attack with three hits out of the 12 GCSU batters recorded. Bellflower, Evan Cowan and Poole each had two for Georgia College.



About GCSU Athletics 
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 the GSCU Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with GCSU Athletics. 

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