Orangeburg, SC – The Claflin University baseball team dropped its Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Series to Columbus State University, 2-1, this weekend at Historic Mirmow Field in Orangeburg, SC.  
 
After dropping the series opener (17-6) on Friday (Mar. 26), Claflin split the doubleheader on Saturday (Mar. 27), winning the first game 4-3 and dropping the second game 14-2. 
 
After the weekend, Claflin's overall and conference record sits at 2-21 while Columbus State improves to 12-7 overall and 10-7 in the PBC. 
 
In the doubleheader opener, Mackenze Gay hit a three-run home run to right field to give Claflin a 3-1 lead. Gay's home run came with one out and scored Keyon Smith and Nicholas Johnson who singled up the middle and walked, respectively, to start the bottom of the second inning. 
 
David Meadows scored off a fielder's choice by Steven Minter in the top of the second to open the scoring of the game one doubleheader. 
 
Claflin tacked on an additional run in the bottom of the fourth as Johnson scored his second run of the game off a pitching error. 
 
The Cougars cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth off a Minter homerun to right field. 
 
The score remained 4-2 until the top of the eighth when Dane Bullock homered to close the gap to one.  


The Panthers' defense was solid the rest of the way to capture the win. 
 
Gay finished the contest 1-for-3 with two walks and three RBIs. Johnson led the team in the runs department with two. 
 
Dermus Strozier, 1-0, went 4.2 innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs, three walks with three strikeouts picked up the win, and Talmon Hubbard, who went 4.1 innings earned the save.  
 
Tyler Cadenhead, 2-1, was the loser for the Cougars. 
 
In the second game, Columbus State used a six-run fifth inning to break open the contest. The big inning put the Cougars ahead by a 9-1 margin. After Claflin scored one run in the bottom of the fifth, Columbus State added three and in sixth and two in the seventh for its 14 runs. 
 
Da'Avion Sumpter and Jordan McCray, who came off the bench to hit a homerun in his first at-bat, were the only two Panthers to cross the plate in game two. 
 
The Cougars were led at the plate by Isaac Bouton and Robert Brooks who had three runs each. 
 
Jamie Boatright (2-0) pitched six innings in picking up the win for Columbus State. X'zavier Johnson (0-6) was the losing pitcher for Claflin, going four innings. 
 
In the series opener, Columbus State put up broke a 2-2 tie after the second inning by scoring seven runs in the top of the third to take a 9-2 advantage. Claflin scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to five. 
 
After neither team scored over the next two innings, the Cougars put up eight runs over the next three innings and allowed just two Panther runs en route to the 11-rungame one victory. 
 
Claflin was led by Gerardric Dobbs was a triple away from hitting for the cycle, finishing the game with 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs. Smith came off the bench to hit a home run and Steve Joyner and Christian Carr also crossed the plate for the Panthers in the series opener. 

Columbus State was led at the plate by Brooks, who went 4-for-5. 

Jalen Latta was the winner of the series opener while Kyle Hawkins was the losing pitcher of record. 

Claflin will close out its 2021 home season next Friday-Saturday, Apr. 2-3, when they host USC Aiken in a PBC three-game series.