Point Downs Crowley's Ridge, Narrowly Falls to Georgia Gwinnett
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Point University baseball team split a pair of nine-inning contests on Friday. The Skyhawks defeated Crowley's Ridge 12-3 in the morning before falling to Georgia Gwinnett 3-2 in the afternoon. Point's record moved to 6-4 on the young season.
Point stays in Lawrenceville, Ga. and returns to action tomorrow, Feb. 14. for four games, two on Feb. 13 and two on Feb. 14. The Skyhawks will take on Crowley's Ridge at 10 a.m. followed by a 6 p.m. matchup against Georgia Gwinnett.
Point 12, Crowley's Ridge 3
The Skyhawks wasted no time getting on the board. Bailey Stroud singled to open the game and moved to third on a base hit by Arwin Burgos, Stroud then scored on a sacrifice fly by Brady Bye and gave Point a 1-0 lead. The Pioneers struck back with one in the bottom of the first. Neither side managed to score in the second or third innings despite Point loading the bases in the second and Crowley's Ridge getting two on in the third.
The Skyhawks broke out in the top of the fourth. Point scored four runs on six hits in the frame, and began the inning with four consecutive hits. Bradley Bartholf led off with a single, Garrison Coleman doubled to put men on second and third, Jonathan Kohlman scored them both with a double and Kohlman crossed the plate on a Stroud single. Point picked up two more later in the frame on RBI doubles by Bye and Damian Hernandez.
One run from the Pioneers in the bottom half made it 6-2 in favor of Point through four innings. They got one more in the fifth to cut the Skyhawks' advantage to 6-3.
Point broke the game open in the eight. The Skyhawks loaded the bases with nobody out. Stroud, who began the frame with a bunt single, scored on a passed ball. Hernandez then drove in two more with a single and Coleman added an RBI base hit of his own, lifting Point's lead to 10-3. The Skyhawks made it 12-3 on a Burgos two-run home run in the ninth inning, the first of the season for the senior.
On the mound, Jack Teague earned the victory with five innings pitched and three runs allowed for Point. The freshman struck out four and walked just one on his way to his second career win. Offensively, four Skyhawks knocked in multiple runs led by Hernandez with three. Burgos, Kohlman and Bye all drove in two.
Georgia Gwinnett 3, Point 2
Stroud reached to start the game again in Point's second contest, this time on an error. He made his way to third on a single by Josiah Palomino and scored on a Bye sacrifice fly, giving the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead after three batters.
The Grizzlies tied the score in the bottom half, but Point re-claimed the lead in the second. The Skyhawks loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk by Easton Harrison, a single by Kohlman and Stroud reaching on another error. Palomino then hit into a double play, but a run scored and put Point ahead 2-1. GGC made it 2-2 in the bottom of the third.
Skyhawks' starter Dylan Davis settled in for his final two innings, holding the game tied while exiting with a final line of five innings pitched, two runs allowed and a pair of strikeouts. The Grizzlies scratched an unearned run across in the sixth and claimed a 3-2 advantage.
GGC held that lead for the rest of the contest. Point put runners on base in each of the final three frames, including a runner on second with one out in both the seventh and eight innings, but the Skyhawks could not find the tying run and ultimately fell 3-2.