Bobcat baseball begins PBC defense with sweep

Published 9:37 am Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Sophomore Braeden Smith hit two home runs – one a grand slam – in Sunday’s final game of a three-game set for Georgia College & State University baseball at John Kurtz Field. The Bobcats and coach Nolan Belcher were playing Peach Belt Conference games for the first time since winning the league championship at the same diamond in 2024, and defense of that championship began the right way, a three-game sweep of the Augusta State Jaguars.

Mason Brown, a left-handed senior looking to secure a spot in the weekend pitching rotation, worked seven quality innings Sunday with one run allowed, four strikeouts and just three hits scattered. He won his second decision against no losses. Tyler Smith got the Bobcats out of eighth inning trouble and went on to close out the 8-2 win.

Smith, also a senior, allowed one inherited runner to score but did not give up a hit and struck out two in two full innings.

Augusta was the only team to have baserunners (three) in a quiet start Sunday but left all three in its first three turns against Brown.

The big noise, though, came in the bottom of the third from the Bobcat bats. Carson Phillips, a new starting outfielder, singled as the leadoff batter. GCSU proceeded to load the bases, and another new starter for Belcher, shortstop Ben Hamacher, sent a flare to right field that fell safely. Everybody moved up one base, including Phillips touching home plate.

Smith, after a freshman season in Milledgeville with six home runs and 48 RBI, was leading the Bobcats in both categories when the Augusta series began. He drilled a grand slam to add significantly to those totals.

The Jaguars, trailing 5-0, did not have a hit in the top of the fifth when they got on the scoreboard. There was an error and a strikeout that the home plate umpire ruled a trap on the third strike. Catcher Rand Bestermann made a play for Augusta’s runner going to third base, then there was a throw to first, neither getting an out.

The run scored on a force-out at second, then the inning ended on a rundown from Smith to Hamacher.

Smith led off the home sixth with a solo home run, his sixth to match his figure from all of 2024. He also has 26 RBI.

Augusta threatened in two of its final three turns. With only one baseball leaving the infield, the Jags loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with one out. Brown got freshman Austin Williams to hit into a double play started by Hamacher with help from veteran second baseman Gabe Wuerth.

Things repeated themselves in the top of the eighth, only one baseball hit to the outfield but the bags winding up full for Augusta. Smith entered with no outs showing and changed that to two before issuing the third walk of the inning to plate a run. But the rally ended at 6-2 Bobcats, and the Jaguars left 10 runners on base for the game.

Hamacher singled to lead off a two-run eighth for the home team. With two outs, yet one more new starter, right fielder Hank Noonan, singled him home then scored on a wild pitch.

The Bobcats improved to 9-10 overall and will host another PBC series this weekend against South Carolina-Beaufort at John Kurtz Field.

The series with Augusta began with a rout, 15-3 for the Bobcats in seven innings.

Six different Augusta pitchers issued 10 walks, tossed three wild pitches and hit three batters as GCSU scored in every inning but the third and sixth innings.
Augusta scored twice in the top of the first, then GCSU scored four times in the bottom half. After the first two Bobcats reached on a free pass, Smith tied the game 2-2 with a double to the left-center field gap. Matthew Mebane drove Smith in with a single to left-center off Augusta starter Caleb Bohn.
Hamacher added a RBI double in the second and Smith added a sacrifice fly in the fourth as the Bobcats took a 6-3 lead. GCSU broke the game open with nine runs in the fifth on just two hits to take a 15-3 lead. Jaguar hurlers walked in four runs on bases-loaded walks and scored two more times on hit batters with the bases loaded.
John Luke Glanton improved to 3-1 with the complete-game win, striking out four.
Georgia College & State University pitchers struck out 17 on Saturday, but the Bobcats had to hold on for an 8-7 victory in Game 2.
After Augusta took a 1-0 lead in the first, the Bobcats got a run back in the bottom of the inning on an Augusta throwing error. GCSU added three runs in the second to open up a 4-1 lead. Designated hitter Keagan Baxter laced his third homer of the season – a 410-foot blast to centerfield – that drove in two runs, while Wuerth added an RBI single up the middle.
The Jaguars got two runs back in the top of the third, but the Bobcats struck for one in the fourth and three more an inning later to open up an 8-4 lead. Smith drove in a run in the fourth on a fielder’s choice. Bestermann drove in two in the fifth inning with a double to left-center field before Wuerth tripled down the right field line to plate the other.
Augusta got a run back in the seventh and put together five consecutive hits with two outs in the ninth to pull within a run at 8-7; however, GCSU reliever Will Sims earned his second save by recording the final out on the 17th strikeout for Bobcat pitchers.
Bradley Wilson (2-1) earned the win with 10 strikeouts in five innings.