DAHLONEGA, Ga. — In a matchup worthy of its billing, Georgia Southwestern and Flagler College traded blows behind two of the Peach Belt Conference's top arms Friday night, but a ninth-inning rally handed the No. 4 seed Hurricanes a 2-1 loss to the No. 5 seed Saints in the PBC baseball tournament opener at Bob Stein Stadium.
With
Evan Koehler, the PBC Pitcher of the Year, squaring off against C.J. Hanson, who entered with the league's top ERA, the game unfolded exactly as expected - tight, tense and defined by dominant pitching.
Koehler turned in another workhorse performance, tossing his third complete game of the season. The right-hander allowed just two runs on six hits over 8 1/3 innings, striking out five while lowering his ERA to 3.09, second-best in the conference.
Hanson was equally sharp, going the distance for Flagler while limiting the Hurricanes to one run on five hits. The Saints' ace lowered his league-leading ERA to 2.77, striking out eight to earn the win.
Flagler struck first in the opening inning, using a stolen base, a walk and a sacrifice fly to manufacture a 1-0 lead.
GSW broke through in the fifth.
Samuel Hogue reached and moved into scoring position before
Drake Harman delivered, lining an RBI single to right-center to even the score at 1-1. Harman finished with two of the Hurricanes' five hits on the night.
From there, the game settled back into a pitcher's duel. Koehler worked around traffic and kept the Saints off the board into the ninth, while Hanson stranded a pair of late opportunities to keep the Hurricanes from taking the lead. GSW did not have a runner advance past first base after scoring in the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Flagler broke through. A leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt put the winning run in scoring position before Jesse Sullivan delivered a walk-off RBI double to left, sealing the 2-1 decision.
GSW (27-24) will now turn its attention to an elimination game Saturday at 3 p.m. against the No. 8 seed Middle Georgia. With a win, the Hurricanes will play immediately afterward against either Flagler or top-seed North Georgia for a chance to advance to Sunday's championship portion of the bracket.
