Box Score Demorest, GA - The Piedmont College baseball team got offensive once again in today's 15-6 victory over Greensboro College at Loudermilk Field as the Lions helped make Sunday afternoon a memorable one for Head Coach Jim Peeples.  For the Piedmont skipper, Sunday's 9-run victory gave him his 300th career victory as all of his wins as a head coach having come in a 13-year career with the green and gold of PC dating back to the 2002 season.

Greensboro started the scoring off on the day getting a run in the first on a Piedmont error to take a 1-0 lead though the Lions would take the lead away in the home half with a pair of runs on four hits to go up 2-1.  After the Pride tied it up in the top of the second, Piedmont once again surged back in front in the bottom of the inning care of a Josh Bailey single that scored a pair to put PC up 4-2 through two complete.

Looking a sweep dead in the eye, the Pride fought back to once again tie it back up at four each with a pair of runs in the 4th, but the Lions knowing what was at stake for their well-respected leader once again battled to stay in front scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch to take advantage of a costly mistake by the visitors.

The Lions would go on to distance themselves with ten runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings combined as the offense heated up once more against the Greensboro pitching staff which struggled against the mighty bats of Piedmont all weekend long.  In the Piedmont 6th, Griffin Olson led off with a double and scored on the next at-bat as Josh Bailey drilled a Pride offering over the fence in right with the American flag whipping in the wind just a few feet away.

After Bailey's drive cut through the air in a four-run 6th, Austin Brick put on an encore performance with his own home run in the Piedmont 8th as the Lions continued to make solid contact at the plate. For both Brick and Bailey, the shots were their first of the 2014 season. 

Greensboro would pick up a pair of runs in the last few innings, but the damage had already been done as the Pride could not keep the scoreboard from lighting up in the home half of the innings throughout the series. 

Piedmont scored in 16 of the 24 innings they were at the plate in the series as the Lions did not have to hit in the 9th in any of the three games against GC.  The final score in the Sunday matchup was 15-6 as Piedmont won by at least eight runs in all three games scoring in double digits each game out.

Getting the win on the mound for PC was Allen Tokarz as he moves to 1-0 on the season coming on in relief during the 4th inning.  Tokarz went three and a third with just one hit allowed and no earned runs given up.  The loss went to the Greensboro starter Kristopher Peeden who went five innings giving up five runs on five hits.

Leading the Lions at the plate was senior Josh Bailey who drove in four going four for five with a pair of runs scored as he blasted a two-run homer in the 6th, one of two home runs on the day.  The other belonged to the catcher Austin Brick who hit a solo shot in the Piedmont 8th, his only hit of the day but one that left no doubt as it sailed over the wall in left long after the Loudermilk faithful knew that one was leaving the park.

Piedmont takes all three from the Pride of Greensboro as the Lions start their run at a possible conference title with three straight wins outscoring the Pride 42-12 in the series.  With the sweep, Piedmont moves to an incredible 9-2 on the season and improves to 3-0 in USA South action getting off on the right foot in conference play.

For Head Coach Jim Peeples, the win marks his 300th career victory as he has been the model of consistency in college baseball throughout his tenure at Piedmont College.  While leading the green and gold, Peeples' 100th, 200th, and 300th wins have all come in the month of March and are separated by four years each.

The skipper's first win came on a chilly February night in 2002 with a 23-6 victory over Savannah College of Art & Design, a NAIA foe that the Lions played while transitioning to the NCAA Era which begins with the 2004 season for the Piedmont baseball program. 

Since taking his team into Division III, Peeples has led his team to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances with the first coming in 2008 and the most recent coming in 2011.  Both of those seasons have seen PC tab more than 30 wins as well including a record-setting 34 wins in 2008.

Peeples has seen his share of greats come through the halls as well with several NCAA Statistical National Champions operating under his tutelage including Brandon Schmidt and Matt Collins.  Schmidt's 50 stolen bases in 2004 was the best by any Division III player in the NCAA that season while Matt Collins was the national champ in strikeouts per nine in 2011 not only in Division III, but across all three Divisions of the NCAA.

Of course, Schmidt and Collins are just two of the many young Lions that have been brought up by Peeples who is in his 13th season at the helm and has his team off to a 9-2 start in a year when Loudermilk Field is the host site for the NCAA South Regional. 

Hoping to have his team in contention for a postseason spot in their home park, Peeples will lead his team back on the field this coming Thursday when they visit Randolph-Macon College before a three-game weekend series with Methodist University, a spot where Peeples returns to as a former assistant with the Monarchs spending nine years at the Carolina school helping them to a pair of NCAA Division III College World Series appearances including a national runner-up finish in 1995.

Head Coach Jim Peeples - Career Milestone Wins
300th Win - March 2nd, 2014 vs. Greensboro (15-6) - Winning Pitcher:  Allen Tokarz
200th Win - March 24th, 2010 vs. DePauw (7-5) - Winning Pitcher: Jordan Coffman
100th Win - March 11th, 2006 vs. Fisk University (14-1) - Winning Pitcher:  Blake Thomas
1st Win - February 16th, 2002 vs. Huntingdon (7-0) - Winning Pitcher: Dave Bultema

Photo Gallery of Coach Peeples' Historic Moment