Box Score FLORENCE, SC – Three senior relief pitchers combined to allow only one run in 8.1 innings allowing Francis Marion University to rally for 13-5 Senior Day victory over Georgia College, Tuesday evening (April 20) in Peach Belt Conference baseball action.
 
Playing its final home game of 2021 and the final home contest as a member of the Peach Belt Conference, Francis Marion evens its overall record at 16-16 and improves to 14-16 in PBC play. FMU will move to Conference Carolinas beginning this fall.
 
The Patriots will conclude their regular-season schedule with a three-game series at Georgia Southwestern State University this weekend, beginning with a 6 p.m. start on Friday.
 
Prior to the game, Francis Marion recognized nine seniors, six of whom figured prominently in the game as the Patriots rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit.
 
Junior right fielder Will Hardee and sophomore center fielder Jack Hegan led FMU at the plate with three hits apiece, while senior third baseman Todd Mattox and junior second baseman Tanner Wakefield collected two hits apiece.  Hegan drove in three runs, while Wakefield and senior center fielder Bill Hanna each had two runs batted in.
 
Senior right-hander Chad Wallen (1-0) earned the win, while sophomore righty Forrest Wilson (1-1) took the loss.
 
The Bobcats (17-17, 15-15) jumped on FMU freshman southpaw Chas DeBruhl for four runs in the top of the first.  Wallen entered with two outs in the first and allowed one run on two hits in his 3.1-inning stint.  Senior righty Ethan Meece followed with 4.2 scoreless frames during which he allowed three hits and fanned three.  Senior Christian Umphlett, the program's all-time leader in pitching appearances with 80, came on to record the final out via a strikeout.
 
Upon entering in the fourth, Meece promptly loaded the bases with no outs and then retired the next nine batters in order and faced the minimum 12 batters over the next four frames.
 
Francis Marion began its rally with a single run in the second.  Hegan lifted a one-out single to right center, moved to third on a single by senior shortstop Grayson Cottingham, and scored on a wild pitch.
 
The Patriots scored seven times in the third to take the lead for good.  The outburst included six hits and RBIs from five different batters, and six of the runs came across with two outs.  The go-ahead run was scored by Cottingham on a wild pitch.
 
After the Bobcats scored once in the fourth, FMU added two insurance runs in the sixth to take a 10-5 advantage. With runners on second and third and the Bobcat infield drawn in, Hegan lined a ball off the pitcher's foot and it deflected between first and second and into shallow right field allowing both runners to score.
 
Francis Marion added three more tallies in the seventh with Hanna and Wakefield recording RBI-singles and senior first baseman Darius Nobles plating the final run with a sacrifice fly.  
 
Mattox's third-inning single extended his streak of safely reaching base to 40 games, dating back to the 2020 season.

 
Francis Marion Univ. 13, Georgia College 5 (Apr 20, 2021 at Florence, SC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Georgia College..... 400 100 000  -  5  8  3      (17-17, 15-15 PBC)
Francis Marion Univ. 017 002 30X  - 13 14  0      (16-16, 14-16 PBC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Georgia College – Bryce Bowen; Forrest Wilson(3); Garrett Houston(3);
Luc Scudellari(7) and Austin Holloway. Francis Marion Univ. - Chas DeBruhl; Chad Wallen(1); Ethan Meece(5); Christian Umphlett(9) and Daulton Dabbs.
Win-Chad Wallen (1-0)  Loss-Forrest Wilson (1-1)  T-3:09  A-95
Weather: Overcast,79,Winds S @ 12 mph
Garrett Houston faced 3 batters in the 7th.