Pitching leads Lions to 2-0 win over Wabash College

DEMOREST -- The Piedmont College baseball team shut out Wabash College 2-0 on Tuesday courtesy a trio of Lions on the mound.

The Piedmont arms and timely scoring did the job as the Lions moved to 7-1 on the season.

After a scoreless first which set the tone for the night as runs would be hard to come by, Piedmont would get on the board first in the bottom of the second as an always haunting leadoff walk to Breck Davidson proved to be an issue when Davidson would come home from third just two batters later on a 643 double play. That score would be the only one on the evening minus a run in the Piedmont 8th as both teams struggled to cross the plate due to solid performances on the mound by both the Lions and the visiting Little Giants.

In the Lions' seventh, the home team looked to be in business with a Michael Barnes single that led off the bottom half of the frame. Even as Barnes was able to advance on a fielder's choice and steal third to stand just 90 feet away with two outs, the Lions would ground out to short to end an inning for the fourth time on the night with their next at-bat as the zeroes stayed busy on the board.

Piedmont starter Max Oberkofler threw a strong four and two thirds on the night allowing just four hits and a pair of walks though one of those four hits and both walks came in the Wabash fifth as the Little Giants threatened what was at that time a one-run lead. However, reliever Allen Tokarz came on to induce the easy fielder's choice for Griffin Olson behind him who flipped a ground ball to Tyler Marcinko at second for the third out in the inning.

Tokarz would become the pitcher of record getting the win on the night to push his record to 2-0 in relief appearances while he has still yet to allow an earned run in 2014 as he gave up just one hit and walked a single batter in three-plus innings of work. In the Wabash 9th, Piedmont skipper Jim Peeples would call upon the arm of save specialist Jacob Brewster who came on the mound to work the final three outs of a tight two-run ball game.

Facing three straight pinch hitters, Brewster sat the Little Giants down in order as he forced a ground out, foul out, and caught the final batter looking at strike three as the home plate umpire rung it up for a fitting end to a pitcher's night in Demorest. Picking up the loss on the Wabash end was Luke Holm as he allowed just one earned run on six hits striking out seven, one shy of a season high for the senior pitcher who moves to 1-1 on the season.

For Brewster, the save is his fifth of the season after he came in with nine already in his career putting him at 14 total, just four behind the all-time mark of 18 set by Piedmont great Tom Dimitroff. Dimitroff picked up 14 of his 18 in one season alone, the 2008 campaign when PC was a nationally ranked club that paid a visit to a NCAA Regional for the first time in program history.

Offensively, the Lions were paced by catcher Daniel Lindsey who went 2-for-3 with a walk as well as shortstop Griffin Olson who went two for four with a run scored as he came across in an odd sequence in the Piedmont 8th. With two runners on and a 3-0 count to Lindsey, an intentional walk went awry as Wabash's Jensen Kirch slung a pitch over the head of a standing Little Giants catcher allowing Olson to take home on the wild pitch.

With the win, Piedmont moves to 12-3 overall and will put their 5-1 conference record on the line this weekend when they play a three-game set at Covenant College with one game on Friday and a doubleheader set for Saturday. The action on Friday in Lookout Mountain is set to start at 3 .pm.