Middle Georgia college roundup: Georgia College rolls to easy baseball win

An eight-run second inning lifted Georgia College to an 11-2 win Saturday over visiting Ohio Valley in non-conference college baseball.

Five Georgia College starters had a multi-hit afternoon as the Bobcats broke things open in the second.

Freshman Cal Gentry (Perry) put them on the board with a bases-loaded single that scored two. Following a walk to load the bases, senior shortstop Brandon Benson cleared the bases with a grand slam over the left-field fence for a comfortable six-run lead.

Georgia College tacked on two more off a Logan Mattix double and a Garrett Green sacrifice fly to make it 8-0 after two innings.

Mattix, who had a solo homer in the sixth, went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBI. Gentry and Green finished the day with a pair of hits and both of them knocking in two RBI.

Senior Kane Keith got the start for the Bobcats going five innings giving up no runs on five hits, no walks and five strikeouts.

Georgia College goes for the sweep at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

FVSU splits in rivalry with Albany State

Tyler Edward’s jumper with 3:01 left put Fort Valley State ahead for good, and the Wildcats held on to beat rival Albany State 74-70 Saturday night in SIAC men’s basketball.

Albany State survived two FVSU double-doubles for a 79-71 win in the women’s game.

The men’s game was tied five times with three lead changes. The largest lead was 10 points, by Albany State late in the first half. The Rams led 35-32 at halftime, but were outscored 42-35 in the second half.

James Barnes and Jalen Crawford had 15 points each for the Wildcats (11-11, 9-4), while Jamaal Garror added 12.

The Wildcats won despite a monster 34-point night from Michael Green, who was 13-of-20 from the floor, 4-of-10 on 3-pointers, and had a game-high eight rebounds.

Randy McClure added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Rams, who fell to 10-13 overall and 4-8 in conference play. The Rams also outscored the Wildcats by 18 points in bench production.

Briunca Caldwell and Shekiya Tarpkins each had a double-double for FVSU (6-14, 5-7) in the women’s game, but Elesha Foster’s 32 points and 12 rebounds paced Albany State (3-18, 2-9).

The Rams outshot the Wildcats 39.7 percent to 35.3, and took advantage of FVSU having seven more turnovers than assists while Albany State had 15 assists and 14 turnovers.

FVSU was outscored 28-13 in the third quarter and trailed by 18 at one point. The Wildcats’ final lead was with 4:42 left in the first half.

FVSU hosts Clark Atlanta in a double on Thursday starting at 6 p.m. with the women’s game.

Georgia College swept at North Georgia

Georgia College’s trip to North Georgia for a pair of Peach Belt basketball games wasn’t a good one, with the Nighthawks winning the men’s game 64-60 and the women’s game 60-54.

Georgia College’s men fell to 12-9 overall and 6-6 in conference play, while North Georgia improved to 12-10 and 8-5.

The first half of the men’s game had nine lead changes and three ties. That continued in the second half, North Georgia gaining a slight cushion at the eight-minute mark and holding on.

Isaac Thomas led the Bobcats with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

Georgia College’s women fell to 12-7 and 6-5 after a sluggish offensive performance.

The Bobcats led 26-22 at halftime, but gave that up 39-36 after three quarters. North Georgia was outshot 39 percent to 35.7, and the Bobcats did better on turnovers, but the Nighthawks grabbed 19 more rebounds.

Alyah McGriff had 15 points and four blocks for Georgia College, while Veronica Ryan added 11 points.

Georgia College hosts Columbus State on Monday, with doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m.

Georgia College softball opens with sweep

Georgia College opened the softball season with a sweep of visiting Albany State, winning 8-2 and 9-1.

Senior Faith Flanders (West Laurens) was big in both wins, throwing all seven innings of game one without an earned run and following that up with a 2-for-4 effort with a run and an RBI in game two.

In game one, Georgia College got one in the first on a sacrifice fly and a first-and-third steal. After two more in the fourth on an error and four straight walks, Albany State cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth, 4-2. A Bobcats run in the fifth and three more in the sixth helped push it out of reach again.

Flanders went seven frames, scattering four hits for two unearned runs, walking three and fanning five. Flanders set down 12 in a row at one point.

Game two featured more of the same, as Georgia College got a run in the bottom of the first, but four run in the third put the Bobcats in control.

The big blow came on freshman Amber Coy’s (Houston County) first career hit, slicing a single to right to score two runs.

Flanders had two hits, adding an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Brooke Taylor got the win in game two, throwing four innings with four hits and one run. Senior Cassidy Rice added the final two frames of no-hit ball.

Georgia College hosts Queens at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Slow start dooms Wesleyan

Wesleyan got going too late, and that was enough for Maryville to take a 60-47 win Saturday in USA South action.

The Wolves outscored the Scots over the final three quarters of action, but had dug too big a hole.

Justice Thigpen had a game-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists.

Bree Raymond added 12 points for the Wolves.

The Scots held Wesleyan to 30 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded the Wolves by 16.

Wesleyan hosts Agnes Scott at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

This story was originally published February 5, 2017 at 1:03 AM with the headline "Middle Georgia college roundup: Georgia College rolls to easy baseball win."