Tigers take two from No. 19 IUSE

In two very different ways, Georgetown College baseball defeated No. 19 Indiana University Southeast twice Monday. The Tigers (8-5) came out and scattered hits backed up with solid defense for a 3-0 win of game one with the Grenadiers (5-6). Game two, the offense all but disappeared. However, key pitching late preserved the battle and set the stage for a seventh-inning sacrifice bunt for the 3-2 victory.

"It's all strategy sometimes and the guys executed when we needed it," said GC coach Micah Baumfeld. "Shawn (Dubin) continues to be a dominant pitcher and you see how comfortable our offense feels when he is on the mound.

"Southeast is a great team and we knew game two was going to be tough. But we took advantage of a small drop in pitching for an inning, then Michael (Koltak) stepped right in and shut things down until we could push the winning run across."

GC is back in action 3 pm Tuesday against Indiana Tech and a 6 pm game with University of Saint Francis. Both games are going to be played at Grand Park in Indianapolis, Ind.

Antonio Monroy got things going in the first game as a bunt single led three runs on four hits. John Shattles followed with a single. Monroy scored on a double by Sean Williams. Shattles and Williams scored on a single from Ryan Garner.

GC's offense continued to supply pressure, but never scored again. It was more than enough for Dubin, who went six innings. He scattered three hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He improves to 3-0 on the season with a 1.04 ERA and 32 strikeouts.

Former Tiger Nicholas Lugo helped IUSE get its first run on the board with a double to start the second. He scored on a single, but Georgetown was able to limit the damage as Breion Barron struck a batter out. Another runner got caught stealing and the final batter popped out.

Nolan Rogers one-out double got the fifth going for another Grenadier run. However, in the bottom half, things started to unravel for IUSE.

Starting pitcher Brandon Nylin hit two batters and walked another before giving way to a new pitcher. Nick Giambalvo drew a walk to cut the deficit in half. Then a pass ball scored another run and when the dust settled, without a single hit, GC had tied the game.

With two outs and runners on the corners, Koltak stepped in to pitch. He hit Rogers to load the bases, but then set the side down with a third out strike out. He took care of business in the seventh when a lead-off walk worked the way around to third by way of sacrifice bunt and a ground out. Koltak struck out the final batter again.

GC seemed to be going down harmlessly in the seventh when a dropped third strike allowed Benjamin Robinson to reach first. Chris Gilbody came in to run and reached second safely on Phillip Tomasulo's hit fielder's choice ball.

The Grenadiers' short stop threw the ball into the outfield to allow Gilbody to be on third when the play was over. Brandon Benson recorded the final hit of the game on a sacrifice bunt that was not fielded and everyone was safe – most importantly Gilbody at home.