DEMOREST — After trailing by as many as five runs, the Piedmont College baseball team overcame the deficit to win 10-9 against the Spartans of York College. A four-run seventh inning and another tacked on in the eighth sealed the victory as the Lions have now won five in a row.
The Spartans were held to a scoreless first inning after Riley Presnell give up a pair of hits but stranded both runners and posted a similar outing in the second with one hit and a pair of strikeouts. The Lions set the table in the second as Zack Johnson singled and Jake Browning walked to put two runners on.
Brady Ballstadt singled to plate the first run of the game as Johnson scored to make it a 1-0 game. The lead for the Lions was short-lived though as the Spartans got hot in the top of the third scoring five runs.
Following the five-run third for York, who recorded those five runs on six hits, Piedmont picked up a run on a solo shot by Evan Gresham, his first homerun of the season and the first for the Lions in 2016.
The Spartans picked up where they left off in the third with another run in the fourth, this time against pitcher Seth George for the Lions to take a 6-2 lead. Piedmont would again answer with a run of its own after Ballstadt scored on a error that allowed Will Skidmore to advance to third on a single.
With the score 6-3, York again scored in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs stretching their lead to five, their largest of the contest. Piedmont continued to fight back as Breck Davidson homered for the Lions' second homerun of the game and the season.
The final run for the Spartans came in the seventh inning making it 9-5, but in the bottom of the frame, Piedmont had four runs on three hits to tie the game at nine. Both Gresham and Davidson were walked to begin the inning then Chris White pinch hit and moved the runners over on a ground out.
Davidson advanced to third on a passed ball and Gresham scored making it 9-6. Michael Barnes singled to send in Davidson, then Johnson tripled to score Barnes making it 9-8. The tying run came on a sacrifice fly by Browning scoring Johnson to even it up.
In the eighth inning, Allen Tokarz came in to pitch and got three outs in three batters allowing Piedmont the opportunity to take the lead. The Lions delivered as White tripled to score Davidson and make it 10-9.
With Tokarz in line for the win, Piedmont sent none other than Josh Thomas out for the final at-bats and he collected two strikeouts including the final out of the game as Thomas caught him looking to end it all.
The Piedmont College Early Spring Classic continues Saturday with the Lions taking on Virginia Wesleyan College at 5:00 p.m. The Marlins won their season opener Friday against Millsaps 10-5.
