DAHLONEGA, Ga. | Georgia College & State University advanced the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals Friday (May 8) afternoon, defeating the University of South Carolina Beaufort 5-3 at the Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park in Dahlonega.
The No. 3-seeded Bobcats moved to 29-19 on the season and 16-11 in conference, while the No. 6-seeded Sand Sharks concluded their season at 30-22 and 12-16. GCSU will face the No. 2 seed, Columbus State, in a noon matchup Saturday (May 9) in the semifinal round of the tournament.
Georgia College struck for four runs in the bottom of the third to take early control. Hits by
Sydney Lancaster,
Karlie Gutierrez,
Maddie Todd, and a couple errors from the Sand Sharks put the Bobcats up 4-0 before the third inning ended. Todd drove in two with a single that also benefited from a left-field error.
USC Beaufort answered with three runs in the fifth, including a solo home run from Emma Brinkman.
Condland answered in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a solo homerun of her own to right-center to push Georgia College's lead back to 5-3. It was her fifth of the season.
Stephanie Condland finished two-for-two with one run and an RBI, while Todd drove in two runs for Georgia College. Lancaster, Gutierrez and
Kimber Kent also recorded hits in the victory.
Tiffany Caban (10-5) earned the win after striking out seven in 4.1 innings, while
Sydney Garrett tossed the final 2.2 scoreless innings to record her second save of the season. Garrett stranded runners in both the fifth and sixth innings to help preserve the lead.
About GCSU Athletics
Owning the top Academic Success Rate among all public colleges and universities in Division II for five consecutive academic years, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won six 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
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