Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College baseball team won the final game of the series against USA South Athletic Conference member Averett University this afternoon 6-2. The Lions were led by a terrific pitching performance from starting pitcher Max Oberkofler who picked up his third win of the 2015 season.
The Cougars would get on the board first in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly to give them the early lead at 1-0. However the Lions would pick up a run of their own in the home-half of the first frame on an Evan Gresham triple that would score Griffin Olson.
Gresham sits tied for first on the Lions with 2 triples and finished the afternoon 2-for-3 being one of three different Lions to pick up two hits on the day, and two other Lions also picked up a triple marking a season-high three triples as a team today.
After a quiet second inning, the Cougars would pick up their final run of the day in the third inning. The Lions would again respond in the bottom of the inning with three runs of their own. All three of the runs would come with two outs, and sophomore Zach Langley came within inches of his first career homerun in the green and gold.
The hit would fall just short of the wall and Langley would slide into third with the first triple of his career and his only two RBI of the day. A Michael Barnes single advanced Langley 90 feet to put the Lions up 4-2 heading into the fourth inning.
The third inning marked the only inning all afternoon that the Lions pitching staff allowed more than one hit as they held the Cougars to five one-hit innings and three no-hit innings. Leading the charge on the mound was Oberkofler (3-1) who finished the day throwing six strong innings while spreading out five hits and only two runs. The impressive performance from the senior lowered his ERA to 3.40.
This afternoon’s win marks the second one of the week for Oberkofler after picking up a win against Hendrix College Tuesday night. In Tuesday night’s game, Oberkofler threw seven innings giving up only four hits and two runs on three strikeouts.
Allen Tokaraz made his 15th appearance of the year following Oberkofler to pitch the seventh and eighth innings. Tokarz performed a feat that brought the homestanding fans to their feet in applause and awe as Tokarz struck out four batters in the eighth inning with the only baserunner that inning reaching on a wild pitch strike three.
Josh Thomas came in for the ninth after the Lions picked up two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Catcher Daniel Lindsey picked up his first triple of the 2015 season, and the second of his career, scoring Tyler Marcinko. A Casey Parham sacrifice fly would give the Lions their final run of the ball-game and a 6-2 lead heading into the ninth.
Thomas only allowed one baserunner on one hit to maintain the lowest ERA in the Lions program with a 1.64 showing. The combo of Tokarz and Thomas have pitched 51.2 innings giving up only 11 earned runs while striking out 48 batters. The entire staff of the Lions has held opposing batters to just a .259 batting average which sits only .006 from a program record of .253 set in 2011.
The Lions move to 17-7 overall and 14-7 in the USA South Athletic Conference. The Cougars fall to 17-8 on the season and 12-6 in conference play. The Lions are currently in a three-way tie for second place with the Cougars and Huntingdon College as all three teams have a .667 winning percentage.
Up next for the Lions will be a non-conference matchup with visiting Oglethorpe University on Wednesday, March 1 with game time set for 7 pm. However, the Lions will be tested this upcoming weekend as they play host to current conference leader Methodist University for a three-game series with a twin bill scheduled for Friday, April 3 with the first game starting at 2 p.m. The finale of the series will be played Saturday afternoon with first pitch at 2 p.m. as well.
Fans are encouraged to stay updated with all Piedmont College baseball team statistics and schedule changes by visiting PiedmontLions.com or to interact with the baseball team via Twitter or Facebook.
