Eagles shut out Gulf Coast State in series opener

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 28, 2015) – Freshmen Craig Olson and Rion Murrah combined on a seven-hit shutout as Tallahassee Community College beat FCSAA No. 6 Gulf Coast State College 6-0 to open a three-game set with the Commodores on Saturday afternoon. 

Tallahassee has won four of its last five Panhandle Conference games to move into second place in the league standings at 4-3, just one game behind idle Chipola College. The Eagles have won eight of nine overall to improve to 26-11. 

Olson scattered five hits over six innings and Murrah held the Commodores to just two hits over the final three innings. Both guys did yeoman's work with runners on base, too – Gulf Coast State stranded 11 runners and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. 

Olson avoided major trouble right off the bat in the first inning. 

With two runners in scoring position and one out, the Commodores' Nick Nelson hit a sharp grounder to the left side but third baseman Ethan Crout made a diving stop, held the runner at third and threw on to first for the second out. Olson induced another third-to-first ground out to end the inning and keep Gulf Coast State from gaining the early lead. 

The escape seemed to fuel Olson, who was pitching on just two days rest after tossing two-thirds of an inning on Wednesday. He allowed only three hits over the next five innings as he improve to 4-1 on the season. 

The Eagles got all the offense they would need in the second, scoring four runs off Gulf Coast State starter and losing pitcher Austin Howze. Tallahassee batted around and collected six of its 15 hits in the inning. 

Geremy Walton started the scoring with an RBI-single to right that scored Zach Featherstone. Two batters later, Walton scored on Mac Wilson's single to center. D.J. McKnight's two-out single plated Robert Henderson and Wilson to push the Eagles' lead to 4-0. 

Tallahassee added another run in the third. 

Featherstone singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on an error by Gulf Coast State shortstop Max Bartlett. He scored when Walton hit into a 6-4-3 double play. 

Gulf Coast State put men on base – and stranded baserunners – in each of the first five innings but couldn't punch through against the Tallahassee southpaw. With a 5-0 lead, Tallahassee head coach Mike McLeod gave the Commodores a different look to start the seventh, bringing in the righty Murrah, who promptly delivered the first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon. 

Murrah's work earned him his second save of the season. 

Tallahassee added an insurance run in the eighth on Crout's double off the third base bag that scored Chris Clark, who doubled one batter earlier. 

McKnight paced the Eagles' offensive attack, going 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Chad Mabini, Featherstone and Wilson had two hits each. 

Game two between Tallahassee and Gulf Coast State is in Panama City at 6 p.m. eastern Monday. The teams will return to Eagle Field for game three on Wednesday.