No. 23 Gaston College has record-setting four-game weekend sweep in Georgia

No. 23 Gaston College continued its strong start to the season with four straight wins over the weekend at Gordon State, Ga., to improve its overall record to 17-1.

The Rhinos got a school-record power hitting effort from sophomore outfielder Kendall Bradshaw, clutch pitching from sophomores Krisytn Ezzo, Abigail Brewton and Phoebe Cole and a balanced offensive attack that racked up 37 runs and 40 hits.

Gaston College held off host Gordon State 11-10 in Friday's opener behind Ezzo's last-inning pitching, then Ezzo scattered 10 hits in a 4-2 win over Lake Sumter State, Fla., later Friday.

On Saturday, the Rhinos blasted Lake Sumter State 14-2 in the opener and host Gordon State 8-0 in the second game in contests that were shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.

"It was good to see us play well on the road in a tough environment," Gaston College coach Mike Steuerwald said. "Gordon State and Lake Sumter State are both very good teams and well-coached and for us to come away 4-0 was good for the team."

Saturday's opener saw Bradshaw set a school record for single game home runs with three while tying the single game record for RBIs of eight with current sophomore teammate Grace Kealy from a year ago.

Bradshaw finished the weekend with eight hits in 14 at-bats witih nine RBIs and three home runs.

Gaston College had several other top hitters - sophomore Sarah Johnson (7 hits, double, triple, home run, 4 RBIs), Kealy (7 hits, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs), sophomore Skye Harrington (5 hits, double, 2 home runs, 8 RBIs) and sophomore Alayna Patrick (5 hits, double, 2 RBIs).

Harrington had a pair of two-run home runs and a RBI single in Friday's win over Gordon State and Kealy's two-run home run in Friday's win over Lake Sumter State gave the Rhinos the lead for good in that contest.

On the mound, Brewton picked up the win in relief in the opener with Ezzo closing the game out with back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded for a save.

Ezzo then began a stretch of three complete games for the Rhinos' staff in Friday's win over Lake Sumter State that continued on Saturday with Brewton (6-hitter) and Cole (1-hitter); Cole's effort came in her first career start.

"KB (Bradshaw) had a great weekend at the plate, including setting the tone in game one on Saturday with three home runs," Steuerwald said. "Phoebe pitched incredibly well in her first collegiate start and was very effective in the circle.
"From a coaching standpoint, my favorite part of Saturday was the defensive effort we made. We had several plays on that side of the ball that we haven't been making up to this point so it was a lot of fun to see us take our defense to another level. That was dictated by Arissa Duff and Sarah Johnson really setting a tone with some great plays defensively."

Gaston College continues its challenging schedule this weekend when it travels to Oxford, Ala., for the JUCO Extravaganza at the Choccolocco Park that has previously host the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series.

The Rhinos face Northeast Alabama Community College and Wallace State-Dothan on Friday, then meets Wallace State-Hanceville and Snead State on Saturday.

Gaston College's next home games are at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Feb. 25 against No. 5-ranked Walters State, Tenn.