Box Score Game 1 | Box Score Game 2

Demorest, GA -- The Piedmont College baseball team split a home doubleheader today with DePauw University but saw head coach Jim Peeples reach a milestone as he collected the 200th win of his career.  The Lions dropped a tough 14-11 battle in game one, but rebounded quickly to earn a 7-5 win in the finale giving their skipper the landmark victory.

Game one of the doubleheader was a back and forth affair that saw five lead changes and twenty five total runs scored.  After each team put a run on the board in the first, Piedmont would take the lead scoring a run in the third and five in the fourth to hold a 7-3 advantage after four innings. 

Each team tallied three runs in the sixth inning, but it was Piedmont who carried an 11-8 lead into the top half of the ninth inning.  The Lions then proceeded to give up six runs on five hits while recording two errors as the visiting Bears grabbed a 14-11 decision. 

Junior second baseman John Duke led PC at the plate going 2-4 and collecting five RBIs.  Sophomore Curtis Cornett also chipped in going 3-4 while batting in three.  Matt Collins took the loss on the mound moving his record to 1-1 on the year. 

In game two, Piedmont broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth scoring three runs on four hits after being held without a hit for the first three innings.  Kyle Davis and Curtis Cornett opened the fourrth with back-to-back singles before Kevin McConnell stepped in the box to knock a bases clearing double giving PC a 2-0 lead. 

For McConnell, who went 2-3 with two RBIs and a walk in the second game, the extra base hit was his tenth hit in his last fourteen at bats.  After the Bears walked in a run to put Piedmont up 3-0, the visitors would respond quickly with a three spot of their own in top of the fifth.

A sacrifice bunt by Daniel Rivera put the Lions back in the lead where they would stay throughout eventually taking a tight 7-5 win.  Alex Beebe tossed three innings allowing only two hits while striking out six to improve his record to 2-1 on the season.

The split moves the Lions to 10-11 overall while the game two win is the 200th of head coach Jim Peeples' career.  Coach Peeples has spent all of his nine seasons as a head coach at Piedmont College amassing a 200-182 record in addition to collecting a pair of Great South Athletic Conference Championships.  In 2008, the Piedmont skipper led his squad to a 34-14 record, a GSAC regular season and tournament title as well as the school's first ever NCAA post-season appearance in baseball. 

The Lions will return to action when they host GSAC foe Huntingdon College at Loudermilk Field on Friday, March 26th with the first pitch set for 7:00.