FLORENCE, S.C. – Georgia College & State University starting pitchers Eric Pettepher and Shaun Monica struck out 15 batters and allowed only four earned runs as the Bobcats swept a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader from 23rd-ranked Francis Marion University, Sunday afternoon (April 6) in college baseball action. 

Pettepher (3-3) tossed a seven-hitter and fanned eight, while walking no one, and GC&SU scored eight runs in the seventh inning to claim a 13-2 win in game one.  Monica (4-3) gave up only five hits and two earned runs in 7.1 innings, while striking out seven, and Richard Pirkle drilled a two-run homer to lead the Bobcats to a 6-4 win in game two.

Francis Marion drops to 25-16 overall and 11-9 in the PBC, while GC&SU improves to 23-17 and 9-8.  The two squads will conclude their rain-delayed three-game series with a single game on Monday at 2 p.m.

In the opener, Pettepher and FMU righty David Walters (7-4) were locked in a pitchers’ duel heading into the seventh frame.  After the Bobcats had scored twice in the sixth inning, on RBI hits by Benton Yaun and Chandler Snell, to take a 3-2 lead, GC&SU tallied eight runs on seven hits, two errors, and a walk in the decisive seventh inning.  Pirkle had a pinch-hit two-run double and Yaun hit a two-run single to highlight the inning.

Right fielder Danny McCorkell (3-for-4) and Snell (3-for-5) each had three hits and an RBI to pace GC&SU in game one.  The Bobcats pounded out 18 hits and received seven walks from Patriot pitchers.  McCorkel also robbed FMU’s Justin Greene of a home run with a leaping catcher at the right center field fence in the eighth inning.

FMU freshman left fielder Vince Farfaglia went 3-for-4 and scored both Patriot runs in the first game.  Greene drove in the first run with a fielder’s choice grounder and David Bounds plated the second run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give FMU a short-lived 2-1 advantage.

In the second game, FMU sophomore right-hander Erik Sommerville (4-2) allowed only one hit over the first four innings, but it was a two-homer to Pirkle in the fourth frame.  Snell’s RBI single up-the-middle stretched the Bobcat lead to 3-0 in the sixth.

Three walks to open the top of the eighth inning helped pave the way for three more GC&SU runs as the Bobcats went up 6-0.  A sacrifice fly by Snell, an FMU error on a play at the plate, and a run-scoring single by McCorkell accounted for the three tallies.

After being silenced on two hits by Monica over the first seven innings, FMU answered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.  Greene had an RBI single, freshman Chris Honeycutt plated the second run with a fielder’s choice grounder, and the third run scored on a two-out Bobcat fielding error.  FMU third baseman Keon Graves drilled a lead-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to pull FMU to within 6-4, but reliever Michael Newman retired the next three Patriot batters to end the game.

Center fielder Sean Harrell was the lone Bobcat with two hits in the second game, but again GC&SU took advantage of nine walks issued by FMU hurlers. 

FMU senior shortstop Ryan Hypke was 2-for-5 to lead FMU in game two.