DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The North Georgia College & State University baseball team completed its three-game Peach Belt Conference sweep against Lander Saturday afternoon when the Saints defeated the Bearcats, 8-4, in the first game and 2-1 in the second. (Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box)
NGC&SU improves to 14-11 overall and 5-3 in the PBC, while Lander drops to 10-18, 3-12.
In the first game, NGC&SU relied on the arm of sophomore reliever Garrett Lussi as he struck out four and allowed just one run on four hits in 4.2 innings pitched. Mike Peters recorded his fourth save of the season, pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Lander's Derek Wilson (0-6) suffered the loss, allowing five runs (two earned) on two hits in 5.1 innings of work.
Lander took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when T.J. Guinan walked then scored on Hunter Ruoss's RBI triple.
The Saints scored two runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead. Freshman Brad Hall led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third when Creston Warner's fly ball was mishandled in right field. Hall scored on a Petitti groundout to tie the score at 1-1, and Warner scored on a Craig Brisson groundout to give the Saints their first lead of the game at 2-1.
Lander bounced back to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Malcolm McLeod singled and scored on T.J. Guinan's RBI double. Guinan then scored on Ruoss' RBI single. Lander extended its lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth on McLeod's solo homerun.
North Georgia took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth, plating a pair of runs to take a 5-4 lead. Following a trio of walks, Warner reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Kevin Morrison to score the tying run. The next batter, Petitti, was able to punch the ball down the left field line for a double, allowing Anders Oster to score from third giving the Saints the one-run lead.
In the second game, Brett George broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh when he scored the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk.
Lander took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning when Jesse Barbaro scored on Brendon O'Connor's RBI single. NGC&SU came right back in the bottom of the inning and tied the game at 1-1 when Andre Airich scored on a fielding error.
