Skyhawks Drop Two vs. Shawnee State

WEST POINT, Ga. - The Point University baseball team came up short in both ends of a double header against Shawnee State on Saturday and dropped to 5-3 on the young campaign. The Skyhawks fell 12-1 in game one and 7-3 in game two.

Point returns to action next weekend when it travels to Lawrenceville, Ga. for four games, two on Feb. 13 and two on Feb. 14. The Skyhawks will take on Crowley Ridge at 10 a.m. and Georgia Gwinnett at 2 p.m. on Feb. 13, followed by another 10 a.m. matchup against Crowley Ridge and a 6 p.m. tilt with Georgia Gwinnett on Feb. 14. 

Shawnee State 12, Point 1; 7 Innings

Neither team managed to score for the first three innings. Both squads also recorded lead off singles, Larry Drake for the Bears and Bailey Stroud for the Skyhawks, both both were stranded. The only other hit of the first three frames for either team was a second-inning single by Point's Garrison Coleman. The Skyhawks got two on in the second but did not score.

Shawnee State went ahead in the top of the fourth. The Bears scratched across three runs on three hits, all of them singles, and took a 3-0 lead. Shawnee State got two more in the fifth and claimed a 5-0 advantage. Three more in the sixth made it 8-0.

Point got its only run in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Brady Bye, which gave the senior eight RBI on the year. That mark leads the team and is more than one-third of his total from last year (22) in 36 fewer games.

The Bears plated four more in the top of the seventh and closed out a 12-1 victory.

Shawnee State 6, Point 3; 9 Innings

The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and Point quickly tied the score without recording a hit in the bottom half. Stroud walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then moved to third on a groundout and scored on another groundout, this one by Bye for his ninth RBI of the campaign.

Shawnee State struck back in the top of the second with two runs on a pair of doubles, a single and an error, claiming a 3-1 advantage. Neither side managed to cross the plate again until the top of the sixth when Mason Reid slugged a solo home run for Shawnee State, putting the Bears ahead 4-1. They made it 5-1 on a double in the seventh.

The Skyhawks put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Dylan Lindsey walked to start the frame and scored on a double to left field by Jonathan Kohlman, the freshman's first career RBI. Kohlman crossed the plate courtesy of a Shawnee State error and brought Point to within two, 5-3.

The Skyhawks managed one base runner in the eighth on a two-out single by Damian Hernandez, but he was stranded. The Bears, meanwhile, plated one more in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly. Their three-run lead (6-3) proved insurmountable as Point went quietly in the bottom of the ninth.