NAIA World Series : SCC Stages Rally to Defeat Georgia College, 6-5

Southern California College scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Georgia College, 6-5, Saturday and remain in contention in the NAIA World Series.

SCC (45-19-2) will meet Dallas Baptist College at 3 today for the right to continue in the tournament, which has been narrowed to four teams. College of St. Francis (Ill.) and Lewis-Clark round out the final four.

Dave Turney singled to lead off the SCC seventh and scored one out later when Randy Roether doubled down the left-field line to tied the game at 5-5. Roether went to third on Tom Link’s ground out and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Georgia reliever Cary Rivers.

Turney was 2 for 2 with two stolen bases and scored twice for the Vanguards. Roether was 1 for 3 with two RBIs.

Vanguard ace Brian Otten went the distance to improve his season record to 18-5. The first-team, All-American gave up nine hits, struck out six, walked three and retired the last seven batters he faced. Leighton Cornell (6-2) took the loss.

SCC gave Otten an early lead by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. The Vanguards loaded the bases with three straight singles before getting one run on a Georgia error, one on Ron Nelson’s RBI sacrifice fly and a third on Turney’s safety squeeze bunt.

“Somehow, we’re hanging in there,” SCC Coach Rich Emard said. “We just do whatever it takes.”

Emard said his starting pitcher for today’s game against Dallas Baptist will be freshman Randy Redberg (5-2). “But we won’t hesitate to use everybody we have,” he added.

“If we can somehow get over the hump and get to Tuesday (when the Vanguards will play next if they win today), there’s a real good chance Brian Otten will be ready to throw. But that’s a big ‘if.’ ”

In other action:

St. Francis 6, Phillips University (Enid, Okl.) 4--Leadoff hitter Scott Markley drove in two runs and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for St. Francis.

St. Francis and Phillips were tied at 3-3 after six innings before Markley led off the seventh with a bunt single. He advanced to second on a ground out, then scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single by Kurt Miller.

Markley finished 3 for 4 with an RBI single in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Miller added a solo home run in the ninth as St. Francis took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the inning.

St. Francis is 44-36-1 entering today’s game against Lewis-Clark.