COLUMBUS - The 25th-ranked Columbus State University baseball team took a 6-4 win to begin a Sunday doubleheader against Georgia Southwestern University, but a ninth-inning comeback bid fell short in game two as the Hurricanes grabbed a 7-6 victory to avoid a sweep. The Peach Belt Conference series is being played at Ragsdale Field at Burger King Stadium.

The Cougars hit four homers in the game one win, including three by Isaac Bouton. CSU nearly had a miraculous come-from-behind win in game two after scoring four runs in the ninth, but GSW snuck out with the victory

"It would have been nice to earn the series win today, but we came up just short," commented head coach Greg Appleton. "This series has huge implications, and tomorrow's game could play a huge role in the standings at the end of the year."

Game One (CSU 6-4)

It was all about the long ball for the Cougars in the series opener. After Georgia Southwestern (15-13, 13-10) stranded two in the top of the first, Bouton put the Cougars in front with one swing of the bat in the bottom half of the frame with a homer to left. 

Bouton didn't waste any time hitting his second big fly of the game, leading off the third with an opposite-field homer to right to give Columbus State a 2-0 lead. 

Cougar starter Jalen Latta cruised through the fourth and fifth to bring up Bouton and the top of the Cougar lineup to the plate. Bouton reached on an error to begin the inning before Colby Brabston blasted a homer to right-center to put CSU ahead 4-0. 

An inning later, Bouton finished off his amazing day at the plate, slamming his third home run of the game over the left-centerfield wall increasing the lead to 6-0.

Things became interesting in the eight as the Hurricanes knocked Latta out of the game. Five of the first six Canes hitters reached base in the inning, including a two-run single by pinch-hitter Lucas Trebian that cut the advantage to 6-3. Reid Ragsdale added another RBI single in the inning, but Brady Kais got a groundout to escape the inning with the lead intact.

Kais didn't have any trouble in the ninth, setting down the Canes in order to pick up his third save of the year.

Latta (2-3) put together his best start of the year on Sunday. The fifth-year senior allowed just one run in 7+ innings of work. He struck out a six while scattering four hits. 

Bouton (3-for-5) drove in four and scored four times. CSU put up a season-high five earned runs against Tucker Smith, the PBC leader in ERA.

Game Two (GSW 7-6)

Columbus State (17-9, 13-9) jumped in front in the nightcap as Brabston and Robert Brooks laced back-to-back one-out doubles in the first. However, that would be the only run for CSU until the seventh.

In the second, GSW tied the game thanks to a sacrifice fly from Jeffrey Omohundro. After CSU starter Tyler Cadenhead worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, the Hurricanes took a 3-1 lead on a Ragsdale two-run homer to left.

The long ball got Cadenhead again in the fifth as Gregory Wozinak hit a leadoff homer to chase Cadenhead from the game.

Georgia Southwestern added single runs in the sixth and seventh to go in front 7-1 before the Cougars started their late-inning rally.

Bouton got it all started with his fourth homer of the day in the seventh to cut into the margin, but the real threat didn't come until the ninth.

Two walks and a Bouton double quickly loaded the bases for Columbus State in the ninth before a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed two runs to cross the plate to make it 7-4. Brooks made the first out of the inning, but it was a productive out as he plated Brabston with a sacrifice fly to center. 

The Cougars were down to their final out when David Meadows lined a single up the middle to bring the tying run to the plate in Dane Bullock. Bullock hit the ball on the button, burning the centerfielder Jonathan Martin with a double to deep centerfield to pull the Cougars within a run. Following a pitching change, Seth Nelson nearly had the walkoff homer, sending Martin to the warning track in center before hauling in the final out of the game. 

Bouton (3-for-5, 2B, HR) had three more hits for the Cougars, while Meadows (2-for-4) and Bullock (2-for-4, 2B) each picked up a pair. Brooks drove in two after a 1-for-3 performance.

Cadenhead (2-2) took the loss allowing four runs in four innings of work. Nick Watson-Garcia pitched two scoreless innings for the Cougars.

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Columbus State and Georgia Southwestern will conclude the series on Monday at 2 p.m. at Burger King Stadium.