Saturday, February 18, 2006

SAINTS SWEEP A PAIR FROM #27 ARGONAUTS

Pensacola, Fla. – North Georgia starting pitchers Michael Whiting and Tom Bradley pitched seven innings in their respective games to help lead the Saints to a pair of victories on Saturday at Pelican Park at UWF. North Georgia blanked West Florida, 5-0, while the Saints erased a 5-1 deficit to complete the sweep with a 6-5 seven inning win.

West Florida falls to 9-6, while North Georgia improves to 6-5.

In the first game, Whiting (2-1) limited West Florida to no runs on four hits over seven innings. James Wilson completed the shutout with three strikeouts over the final two innings.

North Georgia started the scoring in the top of third. Anders Oster doubled to lead off the inning, and scored on Brian Lauderdale’s sacrifice fly. With two outs, Kyle Potts doubled down the left field line to drive in two more runs to give the Saints a 3-0 lead. West Florida had the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the third, but Whiting got out of the jam by inducing fly balls to Josh Windham and Bo Williams.

North Georgia added two more runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Oster, and Lauderdale’s RBI on a fielders choice to push the lead to 5-0. West Florida’s last best chance came in the eighth inning when the Argonauts had runners at first and second and no outs. But Wilson struck out two and ended the Argonaut threat.

Josh Sawyer (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out three and walking two. Jonathan Weaver had another strong relief outing, only allowing one run and striking out six in four innings of work. Weaver has struck out 16 in 16 2/3 innings this season.

Both teams scored in the first inning in game two. In the top half of the inning, Justin Rickett delivered an RBI single up the middle. West Florida answered with an RBI double by Williams.

West Florida broke the tie with a four-run second inning. Josh Loosier’s bunt to the right side scored Logan Hundley from third base. Gormley and Williams followed with RBI singles up the middle, and Peter Antoske completed the scoring with a sacrifice fly RBI to give the Argonauts a 5-1 advantage.

North Georgia answered with a run in the top of the third on Rickett’s RBI single. The Saints cut the Argonaut lead to 5-3 on a Josh Tate RBI single in the fourth. North Georgia completed their comeback with a three-run fifth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Erik Good hit into a double play to cut the deficit to one. Potts tied the game with an RBI infield single. After Brian McCall relieved starter Todd Androsko, Creston Warner doubled to deep left center on the first pitch from McCall to give the Saints the 6-5 lead. West Florida put two runners on with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but a double play ended the Argonaut threat.

After a rough start, North Georgia starter Bradley (3-0) earned the complete game victory. Bradley allowed five runs on five hits, yet he did not allow any Argonaut hit after the second inning. He also walked five and struck out six. Todd Androsko (2-2) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out six.

West Florida will look to earn a split in the four-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Pelican Park at UWF.

Box Score, Game 1

Box Score, Game 2

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