COLUMBUS - It was a tale of two games for the eighth-ranked Columbus State University baseball team's offense on Saturday as the Cougars split a doubleheader with Georgia College at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field to conclude a three-game Peach Belt Conference series. 

The Cougars (35-8, 18-5 PBC) doubled up Georgia College 14-7 to begin the day before dropping the rubber game of the series 6-1. 

"It's a disappointment we didn't get the results we needed today," added head coach Greg Appleton. "It's funny how the game of baseball can be, but we have to put up consistent runs against teams of the caliber of Georgia College."

Game One - CSU 14, GC 7
It was tight in the early going of game one, but it was the Cougars who took the opening lead with a pair of runs in the first against GC starter Brennan Crooms. Two errors helped Isaac Bouton score the opening run of the game before a two-out double by David Meadows pushed across Colby Brabston. 

GC (26-17, 15-9 PBC) got on the board in the second thanks to a solo homer from Brandon Bell to begin things, however, a Brabston single in CSU's half of the frame kept the two-run margin intact.

The Bobcats kept up their attack against Cougar starter Colton Joyner in the third. Paul Grazzini hit GC's second solo homer of the game to make it 3-2 before a double by Sam Sly evened things at three following back-to-back singles. Georgia College moved ahead later in the inning when Joyner walked Palmer Sapp with the bases loaded.

Things stayed looking bleak heading into the bottom of the fourth after GC added another run on a KC Brown groundout to grab a 5-3 lead. Columbus State had different plans though, erupting for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to jump ahead 10-5.

Matthew McDade and Connor Kirley started the rally in the crucial fourth with back-to-back singles before the pair moved up on a Bouton sacrifice bunt. Brabston continued his good work following the bunt, picking up two more RBIs and tying the game at five with a single up the middle.

The Cougar order continued to produce as Brooks drew a five-pitch walk in front of Trace Twardoski's go-ahead single down the left-field line. 

After a GC pitching change, CSU loaded the bases with two outs with Will Wilbanks stepping into the box. The junior delivered one of the most clutch hits of the year for CSU, sending a grand slam over the left-field wall to give Columbus State a 10-5 lead. 

Columbus State carried the momentum for the remainder of the game as Chandler Ring kept the Bobcats at bay at the plate. Ring threw five scoreless innings out of the bullpen before running into trouble in the ninth when GC added its final two runs. Ring picked up his fourth win,  allowing three runs over  5.1 innings. The righty struck out four.

The Cougars scored four runs in the eighth to close their scoring, with the highlight being a three-run homer from Brooks. The graduate senior was 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs.

Brabston was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs. 

Joyner allowed four runs over the three-inning start. 

Grazzini had four hits of GC's 13 hits.

GAME TWO - GC 6, CSU 1
Columbus State couldn't get their bats going in game two as Jacob Hester and Davis Swenson combined to limit the Cougars to a solo run.

After a quick inning-and-a-half to begin the game, CSU looked to be in business thanks to a two-out solo home run by John Pardue.

The lead didn't last though, with Georgia College matching the solo blast in the third. David Julian made a 1-0 pitch from Devin Dudal hurt, launching the tying homer to left.

The Bobcats got to Dudal with another solo homer in the fourth, this time from Brandon Bell that put GC ahead 2-1

Columbus State had a chance in the fourth when Derek Wylie reached on a leadoff single and Pardue walked with one out. However, the opportunity fell through after a groundout and a flyout ended the threat and stranded two Cougars in scoring position.

Georgia College pushed the margin out of reach in the sixth, including scoring two runs on a two-out triple from Sapp. Bell found a hole through the right side of the infield to cap off the scoring in the top of the seventh.

Wylie was the lone Cougar with two hits after going 2-for-3 with a stolen base.

Hester (4-1) scattered five hits over four innings, while Swenson allowed just a hit over the final three innings.

UP NEXT
Columbus State plays its regular-season home finale on Wednesday, April 27, against Auburn-Montgomery at 5 p.m. at Burger King Stadium.

GAME NOTES
• The home series loss was the first for the Cougars since dropping two-of-three to Georgia Southwestern in April of 2019. It was a span of 10 series
• The Cougars have homered in 20 straight games
• Brooks continues to approach the PBC and CSU all-time home run record. The catcher now has 61 in his career, two away from tying former Cougar Brad Bouras (1998-01) for the most all-time in PBC history. Brooks also extended his on-base streak to 17 games on Saturday
• Game two was just the second time all year CSU failed to score two or more runs 
• Columbus State's magic number to clinch the PBC regular season is one. A win or a loss from Young Harris College will clinch CSU's first regular-season title since 2016