JASPER, Ga. – So close! Macomb Baseball held a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning over NJCAA Division I No. 10 Georgia Highlands College before the host Chargers earned a 7-5 comeback win to sweep the series. The 10^th ranked Chargers won Saturday's (March 11) opener by a 9-0 final tally.

Saturday's doubleheader marked the end of the spring trip for the Monarchs.

GAME ONE: No. 10 Georgia Highlands 9, Macomb 0
The Chargers scored two runs in the second, third and fourth innings and later brought three in to score in the sixth for the 9-0 final in the opener. Carlo Corona (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley), Jeremy Pudlik (Waterford, Mich./Waterford Mott) and Joey Tedesco (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North/Hillsdale) all recorded a hit in a game where offense was at a premium against veteran Charger pitching.

GAME TWO: No. 10 Georgia Highlands 7, Macomb 5
In a back-and-forth game to cap the series, the host Chargers prevailed behind a pair of big innings when they plated three runs in the third and three more in the fifth to overcome the upset-minded Monarchs.

The Monarchs struck first in the second inning when Griffin Baalaer (Macomb, Mich./L'Anse Creuse North) recorded the first of his three RBIs in the contest.  Up 1-0 after two innings of play, the Monarchs extended their lead to 2-0 in the third on a Ben Dillabough (Warren, Mich./Warren Mott) RBI that scored Logan Rybarczyk (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay).

The Chargers responded with three runs in the home half of the third to take a 3-2 lead, but the Monarchs bounced back with a three-run inning of their own in the fifth to go back in front by a score of 5-3. Dillabough brought home Alex Mendes (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) to tie it and Baalaer gave the Monarchs a two-run lead on a two-RBI single to center field that drove home Dillabough and Josh Medrano (Surprise, Az./Shadow Ridge).

The lead—the Monarchs second of the nightcap—wouldn't last for long as the Chargers put their top-10 NJCAA D1 ranking on display by scoring the final four runs of the game to earn the come-from-behind victory.

The pitching staff held the potent Chargers at bay for most the game as the combination of Joey Tedesco, Owen Lamky (Chesterfield, Mich./L'Anse Creuse North) and Ryan Becroft (Warren, Mich./Warren Mott) only gave up four earned runs in a game that saw the Monarchs commit five errors.

Medrano led the Monarchs with three hits (3-4, 2 R) while Baalaer (3) and Dillabough (2) combined to drive in all five of the Monarchs runs.

UP NEXT
The Monarchs have a doubleheader on the schedule for Tuesday (March 14) at Albion JV but Mother Nature may force a postponement with snow in the forecast for Monday and a game-time high of 35 degrees Tuesday with winds 10-20 mph. Follow @MacombMonarchs and @MacombBaseball on twitter for the latest information.