DAHLONEGA, Ga. - The No. 16-ranked North Georgia College & State University baseball team swept a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader from Lander Saturday at Bob Stein Stadium. The Saints won the first game, 11-3, and took the second, 10-3. (Game 1 Boxscore | Game 2 Boxscore)
North Georgia improves to 22-9 overall and 11-4 in the PBC while Lander dips to 18-11, 4-8.
In the first game, North Georgia's Blake Hobby (5-1) went the distance, striking out 10, walking two, and allowing three unearned runs on six hits in nine innings pitched.
Lander's Darrin Tew (4-4) took the loss as he struck out three, walked two, and allowed six earned runs on nine hits in five innings.
Lander scored the game’s first run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bud Lanier which plated Michael Vesnesky.
The Saints came back and scored one run in the bottom half of the inning on a Craig Brisson single, plating Daniel Petitti and knotting the score at a run apiece.
In the five-run fourth, North Georgia took a 6-1 lead. Chad Sage led off with a solo homer, and Brisson followed with a grand slam to right field.
Lander responded in the fifth inning with back-to-back solo homers by Joe Tebaldi and Devin Ridlehoover to cut the lead to 6-3.
The Saints went up 7-3 in the fifth when Kenny Bellavance's RBI single scored Sage.
NGC&SU added four more runs in the seventh for an 11-3 advantage. Davy Wallach had an RBI double, Anders Oster a two-RBI double; then Oster scored on Jordan Erisman's sacrifice fly.
For Lander, Vesnesky and Tebaldi both went 2-for-3. NGCSU's Bellevance went 4-for-5, Brisson 3-for-4, and Wallach 2-4.
In the second game, the Saints' James Wiley got the win, striking out five, walking one, and allowing two earned runs on eight hits in five inings pitched.
Lander's Ross Davis (1-3) took the loss as he struck out two, walked one, and allowed four earned runs on five hits in 3.1 innings.
Lander jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Lanier doubled, advanced to third on Ridlehoover's sacrifice, and scored on Robert Skinner's RBI single.
North Georgia bounced back in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead on Andre Airich's two-run home run to right centerfield.
The Bearcats tied NGCSU at 2-2 in the fourth when Aaron Fludd's RBI single plated Ryan McNulty.
The Saints went back up 4-2 in the fourth on Troy Snitker's two-RBI double that scored Kenny Bellevance and Sage; then Airich went home on Sage's sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 5-2.
In the seventh, the Saints went up 8-2 when Brisson tripled, then scored on Jordan Erisman's RBI single, followed by Airich's two-run homer.
Lander cut the lead to 8-3 in the eighth on Lanier's RBI double that scored Brooks Reames.
Airich's RBI single in the bottom of the inning scored Erisman; then Airich went home on Bellevance's single to give NGCSU a 10-3 lead.
For Lander, Lanier, Reames and Hernandez went 2-for-5 while Skinner and Fludd batted 2-for-4.
For NGCSU, Erisman went 4-for-5, and Airich and Bellevance hit 3-for-5.
