After losing five of their last six games the Bulloch Academy Gators were finally able to come from behind and pull off a win as they knocked off Jenkins County 12-8 Tuesday afternoon to improve to 2-5 on the season.

The Gators trailed 6-2 before rallying for four runs in the fourth to tie the game at 6-6. Jenkins County took a short-lived 7-6 lead but the Gators rallied for two more runs in the fourth, and then pulled away with a run in the fifth and three more runs in the sixth.

“We have been in some ball games late but haven’t been able to close them out,” said Gator coach Aaron Phillips. “We allowed a few runs on some errors early on but we cleaned things up and really hit the ball well today. The biggest thing was we were able to string some hits together today which we haven’t done too well up till this point. We were also able to get some hits with two outs which is huge.”

Senior Austin Smith shut down the Eagle bats when he came in reliving starter Parker Chance allowing only three hits and two unearned runs over 5.2 innings of relief with 10 strikeouts. Smith also came through at the plate going 4-4 with five RBIs.

“Austin is going to Gordon State and it was great to see him put things together on the mound and at the plate,” Phillips said. “It was wet out here today and he was still able to throw strikes which is so important. He hit the ball well with two doubles and helped us pull ahead when we were down. He is a senior and you always like to see those guys get going and spark the rest of the team.”

Phillips feels like the Gators tough non-region schedule will pay off when they start region play next week.

“We have played some really good teams including last year’s state champs, “Phillips said. “Out of our five losses we were leading in the sixth in four of them, so we are right there. We still have games against some pretty good teams outside our region including Calvary and Savannah Christian. We feel like doing this will have us ready for the meat of our region schedule.”

Ike Hubbard added a pair of hits and an RBI while T.J. Durden had one hit and a pair of RBIs. The Gators will travel to Jenkins County for a 5:30 start.

Elsewhere the Southeast Bulloch baseball team have now won three straight and improve to 5-3 on the season. The Jackets have strung together three straight shutouts as they knocked off Bryan County 8-0, ECI 2-0 and then beat Screven County 10-0. Cade Harnage threw a complete game allowing only three hits and struck out nine. Brandon Stuart led the way at the plate with two hits including a triple. Next up SEB will be at Pierce County Friday.

The Statesboro Blue Devils won a pair of games last week against Benedictine but have lost their last two including a 20-0 loss to the Cadets on Friday and a tough 2-1 loss to Islands at home Tuesday night. In the loss pitcher Aiden Lewis threw a complete game allowing only two hits and two earned runs while striking out nine. Statesboro falls to 3-6 and will host Harlem Friday at 5:30.

The Portal Panthers are currently 0-3 on the season and will next host Cross Creek for a doubleheader Saturday at 11:30 and 1:00.