YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. –Young Harris College swept a Peach Belt Conference baseball doubleheader from Georgia Southwestern State University on Senior Day Saturday (April 5) afternoon at Zell B. Miller Field.
The Mountain Lions scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to pick up 4-3 victory in the opener and then completed the sweep with a 9-3 win in game two. The Mountain Lions recognized their 17 seniors prior to the start of the doubleheader.
Young Harris improved to 22-16 overall and to 10-10 in the Peach Belt while the Hurricanes fell to 10-22 and 5-15. The Mountain Lions, which started the year 1-9 in the league, will conclude their three-game series with Georgia Southwestern at 2 p.m. Sunday (April 6).
The Mountain Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings in the opener. Zach Odom and senior Josh Rudnik each drove in a run in the second inning on RBI hits while Young Harris added an unearned run in the third on a sacrifice fly by senior Trey Rogers.
Georgia Southwestern got a run in the fifth before Stephen Eldridge tied the game at 3 with a two-out, two-run double to left-center field in the seventh.
Rudnik and senior David Atwood started the ninth-inning one-out rally by reaching base on Georgia Southwestern errors. A walk to senior Jack Morrow loaded the bases before senior Adam Moore stroked a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field that scored Rudnik with the winning run.
Rudnik (4-0) earned the win in relief with a scoreless ninth inning while Matthew Suggs (3-3) went the distance for the Hurricanes. Suggs and YHC starter Justin Cooper each struck out seven. Rudnik, Morrow and Rogers each had two hits for the Mountain Lions.
Young Harris scored in all but two innings – the fourth and sixth – in the nightcap as they collected 14 hits. Rudnik led the way with fourth while Morrow and Moore had three apiece. Morrow also drove in four runs.
Young Harris took the lead for good at 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth on Morrow's RBI single to left field. The Mountain Lions broke the game open with five runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Moore and Atwood each drove in runs in the seventh on singles while Morrow added a two-run double an inning later. Moore also drove in another run in the eighth on a single to center.
Zach Odom had the lone home run for the Mountain Lions as he clubbed a solo homer to left in the second inning. It was his second of the season.
Senior Tyler Isbell (2-2) pitched three innings of relief to pick up the win while senior Travis Donahoo earned his first save with two innings of scoreless relief. Zac Wittmus (0-8) struck out 11 for Georgia Southwestern in the loss.
