Baldwin's Gem Leads Coker over GCSU

HARTSVILLE, S.C. –  Coker University junior pitcher Blake Baldwin tossed six strong innings, while four Cobras recorded multi-hit games to lead Coker to a 9-2 victory over visiting Georgia College and State University on Tuesday afternoon at Tom J. New Field at Dave Schmotzer Stadium.

Baldwin earned his first win of the season after allowing just two runs on five hits over 6.0 innings of work. Colton Penner paced the offense with three hits, while Matthew Lipcsey, Elijah Jordan, and Luke Kimrey each added two hits in the win.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Coker 8-25 (6-14 SAC) | Georgia College 13-19 (8-10 PBC)

• Luke Kimrey recorded his first collegiate multi-hit game and drove in his first two runs. 

• Blake Baldwin picked up his first win as a Cobra. 

• Colton Penner had his second three-hit game of the season and seventh mutli-hit game. 

• Matthew Lipcsey collected his sixth multi-hit game of the season and drove in three runs. 

• The Cobras' bullpen (Wyatt Tucker, Jacob Hardy and Cooper Mitchell) tossed three innings and allowed just one hit with three strikeouts. 

• Coker snapped a season-long eight-game losing skid with the win. 

TOP PERFORMERS:

P Blake Baldwin: W, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 Ks

1B Colton Penner: 3 H, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 double

DH Luke Kimrey: 2 H, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 stolen base

CF Matthew Lipcsey: 2 H, 3 RBI, 1 double, 1 stolen base

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Coker University opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Luke Kimrey singled up the middle, bringing home Elijah Jordan and Dimitri Sabino. Matthew Lipcsey followed with a single to center field that scored Kimrey and gave the Cobras a 3-0 lead.

Georgia College & State University answered in the top of the third after Blake Baldwin issued walks to the first two batters of the inning. Both runners later scored on a bloop single to right field, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

The Cobras responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning when Penner scored on a groundout by Gavin Johnson to push the lead back to two runs.

In the fourth inning, Ja'Marcus Williams slid home safely on a sacrifice fly from Penner, extending the advantage to 5-2.

Penner added another RBI in the sixth with a double that scored Gavin Edens, and Coker broke the game open with three more runs in the seventh. Edens drove in Dimitri Sabino with a sacrifice fly before Lipcsey doubled down the left-field line to plate both Kimrey and Jordan and cap the scoring.

WHAT'S NEXT:

Coker visits Emory & Henry for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series at Porterfield-DeVault Field. The series gets underway at 3 PM on Friday and concludes with a doubleheader at Noon on Saturday. All three games can be seen live on FloSports.