Georgia College tops Albany State in Milledgeville

MILLEDGEVILLE — Aiden Payne needed only one swing Tuesday afternoon to make his return to his former ballpark memorable.

The Albany State right fielder — who transferred from Georgia College after last season — crushed a two-run home run to right-center field in his first at-bat against his old team, staking the Golden Rams to an early lead.

For a moment, it looked like the beginning of a storybook return.

Instead, it became a game that slowly slipped away.

Georgia College answered with steady offense and capitalized on a series of free passes from the Albany State pitching staff, scoring in every inning from the fourth through the eighth to rally for a 9-6 victory over the Golden Rams Tuesday afternoon at John Kurtz Field.

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Albany State (13-8) actually reclaimed the lead late.

After tying the game in the sixth inning on RBIs from Mylon Uribe and Perry Usher, the Golden Rams surged ahead in the seventh when Uribe delivered an RBI single to right field. Moments later, Arin Chevers drew a walk and a wild pitch allowed former Westover standout Arin Chevers to score, giving Albany State a 6-5 advantage heading into the bottom of the inning.

But the lead didn’t last long.

Georgia College (9-13) answered immediately in the bottom of the seventh. Ty Petrovich doubled to drive in the tying run and Cole Huddleston followed with an RBI single that put the Bobcats back in front for good.

Georgia College added two more insurance runs in the eighth to secure the win.

Albany State struck first in the opening inning after David Cooper reached base and stole second. Payne then stepped in against his former teammates and drove a pitch over the wall in right-center to give the Golden Rams a quick 2-0 lead.

Freshman starter Dereck Foster made that lead stand early.

Foster worked three scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out two and pitching around trouble to keep Georgia College off the scoreboard.

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The Bobcats finally broke through in the fourth inning with three runs, then added single runs in the fifth and sixth to keep the pressure on.

Albany State continued to battle.

In the sixth inning, Luke Addison worked a walk and Ty Grover singled to set up a scoring opportunity. Uribe drove in Addison on a fielder’s choice and Usher followed with an RBI single that tied the game at 4-4.

The Golden Rams finished with seven hits on the afternoon, with Uribe driving in two runs while Payne’s early homer provided the game’s opening spark. Addison and Grover each scored twice.

Georgia College, however, collected 13 hits and benefited from nine Albany State free passes — five walks and four hit batters — that helped fuel the late rally.

“We’ve got to quit walking guys “(five walks and four hit batsmen), Albany State head coach Scot Hemmings said. “But I was very happy with our freshman starter, Dereck Foster. He threw three great innings to start the game and looked really good. We turned a few double plays and got out of some jams early, but free passes to lead off a few innings came back to bite us.

“It was a good ballgame and Georgia College has improved since our opening day. They played really well. It was overall a good game and I’m looking forward to the weekend in Jacksonville at Edward Waters.”

Albany State opened the season with a 9-4 win over Georgia College in February in Albany, but Tuesday’s rematch went the Bobcats’ way.

The Golden Rams will now return to SIAC play this weekend with a three-game road series at Edward Waters in Jacksonville beginning Friday.