SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Jaguars opened Peach Belt Conference play Saturday morning by putting up 21 hits on the Armstrong Pirates for a game one 13-6 victory before falling 12-3 in game two on Pirate Field.
GRU (4-5, 1-1) started their PBC season by putting up three on the Pirates (4-3, 1-1) by the second inning of game one. In the first, sophomore Hunter Boose and senior Ryan Khan hit back-to-back RBI singles to score senior Jeff Rice and sophomore Connor Gilbert. The Jags plated one in the third off Rice's RBI double down the left-field line, after freshman Tyler Roberts hit his second single of game one.
Senior Kip Custer (2-1) held the Pirates scoreless for five innings in his first conference start of the season. Custer got the win in 7.0 innings, throwing three strikeouts while allowing nine hits for two runs (one earned).
Armstrong starter Mitchell Doran got pulled in the fourth for Justin Adkins. GRU held a 3-0 lead while both teams were quiet until the sixth when Adkins started the inning by hitting senior Ross Miles and giving up a single to senior JD Sabo. A Roberts's sacrifice bunt moved the runners for Gilbert to double and Boose to single for three more runs. Armstrong got on the board in the bottom of the inning with two off Custer, but the Jags exploded with two in the fifth and five in the ninth to seal a 13-6 win.
Boose lead the Jags' 21-hit day with a 4-for-5 performance – knocking four RBI and scoring two runs. Roberts went 4-for-5 for GRU with a run and an RBI, while Khan and Gilbert each had three RBI.
In Game two the Pirates put up 15 hits on five different arms from the GRU bullpen, starting with freshman Tyler Brown's first start of the year. He threw 3.0 innings, allowing eight hits for eight runs (six earned) before head coach Jason Eller went to the bullpen. Bryson Stack recorded 2.0 innings to give up two runs before sophomore Phil Dukes gave up three hits for one run.
The Pirates took game two 12-3 behind Ethan Bader's (3-0) 6.2 innings pitched in his third start. Bader struck out eight and gave up seven hits for three runs. Senior JD Sabo went 2-for-4 for GRU and Boose added two hits to his day while Roberts, Bradley Dennis, Ross Miles, Justin Mee, and Zach Murray all got one hit.
The Jags host Anderson on Tuesday, Feb. 18 for a 3:00 p.m. single non-conference game at Lake Olmstead Stadium.
