COCHRAN, Ga. – Brewton-Parker College baseball continued the series at Middle Georgia on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader matchup in Cochran, Georgia.

The Barons (16-33, 7-17 SSAC) dropped the pair of road contests against the Knights (30-18, 16-8 SSAC) to give up the series in a clean sweep.

How It Happened | G1 – BPC 7, MGA 12

In the scheduled seven-inning contest, BPC took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second with an RBI single from Jacob Mantooth followed by a two-RBI double from Malik Germany. Kennard Dawson also notched a hit in the inning while Drew DeMasi was walked.

The Barons moved to a five-run advantage in the third inning with a two-run homer from Dawson with Tate Worrell adding to the tally in the top of the fourth inning with a solo shot to give the guests a 6-0 lead with three innings to lay in regulation.

Middle Georgia answered in the bottom half of the fourth with six runs on a total of three hits to level the game at 6-6. The Knights utilized a grand slam and a two-run homer for the six runs.

Brandon Lawrence shifted the lead back into the control of BPC with a solo homer in the top of the fifth inning, but that essentially sealed the offensive production for the Barons for the remainder of the contest.

In the bottom half of the fifth inning, MGA knocked in a run on an RBI single for the equalizer before reclaiming the lead with a three-run home run for a 10-7 lead. The Knights followed up with a two-RBI triple in the sixth inning for a 12-7 edge, closing the game in the seventh with three-straight outs to secure the win.

Inside the Statistics

• MGA closed game one with a 10-8 hitting edge while also leading 6-4 in extra-base hits.
• Dawson led the Barons with a 2-for-3 performance from the plate which included two RBIs, a homer, and a pair of runs scored.
• Germany finished 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs followed by Lawrence with two hits, two runs, and an RBI.
• Carlos Rodriguez pitched the first 3.2 innings, giving up six earned runs on four hits. He notched eight strikeouts and four walks during his time on the mound.
• Ryan Dopson (4-6) received the loss, allowing two hits and giving up four earned runs.
• Bryce Morley finished the final two innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits, recording two walks and a strikeout.

How It Happened | G2 – BPC 13, MGA 15

The second game of the day proved to be quite the battle as the Barons were able to pull back from a ten-run deficit after four innings of play to being a rally that would fall two runs shy in the nine-inning contest.

Middle Georgia surged to a double-figure advantage early, scoring four runs in the first as well as one run in the second followed by two in the third and three in the fourth for a 10-0 lead. Brewton-Parker managed to cut the deficit in half with five runs in the top of the fifth inning.

J. Reid Phillips led the inning off with a single before Lawrence earned a free base via an error with Eduardo Castillo recording a single to load the bases. Dawson then produced a two-RBI single before the bases were loaded again as DeMasi was hit by a pitch.

BPC added runs with a bases-loaded walk for Worrell which was followed up by a sacrifice fly from Mantooth to score the fourth run. The Barons added one final run to the tally in the inning with a walk for Kyran Coleman, closing the fifth with runners stranded on each bag.

MGA barreled a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 13-5 lead, but the Barons continued to battle back by scoring four runs in the top of the sixth to make it a 13-9 ballgame. Dawson notched a two-run homer with Mantooth connecting for an RBI double with Anyelo Sanchez finding an RBI single to close the inning.

A solo shot from the Knights moved the score to a 14-9 game in the bottom half of the sixth. Brewton-Parker's bats remained hot in the seventh inning, producing five hits to help score three runs which cut the deficit down to just two runs.

Castillo and Dawson recorded back-to-back doubles which pushed home a run before and RBI single from DeMasi and a sacrifice flyout from Jack Morris for the 12th run of the game for the Barons. BPC was knocking on the door with three runners left on base.

Middle Georgia scored a run off an error in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead by three runs with BPC scoring a run on a wild pitch in the eighth to return back to a two-run game. In the top of the ninth, the Barons were desperate to reheat the bats.

BPC managed to earn a walk to place a runner on with one out. After a strikeout, Lawrence was able to connect for a single and tried to extend the play by advancing to second but was caught out to close the game in heartbreaking fashion.

Inside the Statistics

• BPC led 18-14 in hits, but the hosts were the victors in the extra-base hits category with an 8-4 edge which included six home runs.
• Dawson led BPC, batting 3-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored while Mantooth also produced three hits for two RBIs.
• Castillo led with four runs followed by DeMasi with three.
• A total of six pitchers made appearances for BPC with Robin Haven (1-3) receiving the loss. Haven gave up seven earned runs and allowed eight hits, recording two walks and two strikeouts in just 2.1 innings on the bump.
• Chandler Koerner highlighted the game with five strikeouts in just 1.1 innings, allowing one earned run and one hit.

Next Up

• The Barons close out the regular season with a 16-33 overall record and a 7-17 SSAC record. BPC is slated to compete in the SSAC Tournament next week in Hattiesburg, Miss.