Sean Sutton hit a home run in both games of Thursday afternoon's doubleheader and the Genesee Community College baseball team picked up two wins against Mercyhurst North East.
Sutton started his afternoon with a two-run homerun in the bottom of the first inning in game one after Fauchedre Celestijn delivered a three-run triple and the Cougars were in front 5-0 after one.
Brandon Stagg threw a complete game for GCC allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out two.
Brandon Collins went 3-3 with a single and two doubles. He also scored twice and drove in a run. Shakeel Newton added a three hit effort with three singles and scored three runs.
Genesee scored in each of the first five innings and won game one, 12-5.
(Sean Sutton (left) celebrates with Fauchedre Celestijn after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning of game one against Mercyhurst North East on Thursday afternoon)
In game two, Mercyhurst jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a couple of runs in the second inning. GCC cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third with an RBI double from Zach Ranta that scored Collins.
Pitcher Malik Mitchell kept the visiting Saints off the board in the fourth and the fifth, and Sutton blasted his second home run over the right field wall to give Genesee a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Mitchell gave way to Eric Villalobos after 5.2 innings with a 4-2 lead and Villalobos allowed an inherited runner to score and one run of his own on just one hit the rest of the way to earn the four out save. Genesee won game two, 6-4.
Mitchell allowed three runs on five hits and struck out six and earned the win.
Collins went 2-4 in game two, scored two runs and also drove in a run. Celestijn was 1-1 with a single, a run scored, two walks and was hit by a pitch.
Genesee improves to 13-6 overall on the season and are now 2-4 in conference play. They will host Mercyhurst North East again on Saturday at the GCC campus for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
(Malik Mitchell pitches for GCC in game two against Mercyhurst North East)
