Beau Brand was on Jorge Pascual’s heels after a double by Drew Rothschild in the second game, but Pascual made it home safely while Brand was tagged out on a slide attempt.

TIFTON — Jackson College is going to wonder what happened to Southern hospitality. The Michigan-based school came through Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Thursday, March 9, on its way back home and the Stallions were not too giving on the baseball diamond.

ABAC held the Jets hitless for the first five innings of the doubleheader before hanging on, 5-4. The nightcap saw Joe Fisher and Jordan Nathaniel blast 1st inning home runs in what turned into a 17-0 blowout. College doubleheaders are seven innings each, but this one was further mercy-ruled to five innings.

The visiting Jets took a 1-0 lead in the 1st frame in the opening contest against ABAC, but it lasted for only the half-inning.

James Berry’s tally came without courtesy of a hit. He walked to start the game, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Josh Burke’s RBI groundout.

The Stallions loaded the bases in each of the first two frames, getting two runs in each of them.

Jorge Pascual singled in between walks to Dylan Taylor and Jack Witmer. With two outs, Drew Rothschild lined over shortstop, driving in Taylor and Pascual to go ahead 2-1.

More two-out success came in the 2nd. Wyatt Talik began the inning with a walk and Payton Chace Boines got a hit, moving to second and third on a sac bunt by Fisher.

After a foul pop-out Pascual kept the rally alive with a walk, setting up Beau Brand’s RBI infield single. Witmer extended the lead to 4-1 on his hit.

ABAC went up 5-1 in the 3rd on a rare play. Griffin Rowe was at second with one down after leading off with a hit. Boines drove a ball to deep centerfield, where Logan Christophel made a diving catch.

Rowe, who tagged up, never stopped running, was safe on a headfirst slide home, giving Boines a two-base sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, Terry Garmon was cruising on the mound.

Having gotten through the 1st, he was under little stress for the next several innings. He carved up Jets in the batter’s box — Garmon finished at 8 strikeouts — and got help behind him.

First baseman Pascual made a big pick to start the 4th on a low throw by Taylor, an inning after Pascual went deep into foul territory to snag a fly. Taylor speared a low liner in the 5th.

Jackson had no hits through five innings. One out into the 6th, they got a single by Jamil Ramsey to break up Garmon’s bid at history.

Garmon pitched into the 7th, but found a resilient group of Jets. Jared Kramp, Logan Angel and Austin Santure loaded the bases with no outs. Cristophel’s fielder’s choice brought home Kramp and Berry closed the gap to 5-4 on his two-RBI single.

Garmon struck out Ramsey, but head coach Matthew Williams called upon reliever Nicholes Milbrandt to face Burke. It was a good choice by Williams as fanned Burke in four pitches for the save.

Rothschild drove in two runs on two hits in the opener for the Stallions.

ABAC 17, JACKSON 0

Two homers in the first innings is never a good sign for a team’s pitching staff. Particularly crushing for the Jets was that Fisher led off the game with a long ball. Nathaniel, the other man to homer, was the ninth-place hitter.

Seven runs scored in the 1st. The Stallions eased up a bit with two markers in the 2nd and one in the 3rd before exploding again for seven in the 4th.

Four pitchers absorbed the damage. Jackson first tried Jack Elkins and Derek Tomalak, but as the night rolled in and ABAC wasn’t slowing down, they called upon position players Christophel and Santure to finish it out. Both were predictably rocked. Even Williams going deep into his bench had little effect.

Fisher’s solo shot started the explosion. Consecutive errors put Taylor and Pascual aboard. Witmer’s sac fly put run No. 2 on the scoreboard, then followed RBI singles by Rothschild and Matthew Glass. Nathaniel drove drove in two more with his shot to left. Eleven men batted in the 1st. The Jets saw at least five in every frame, with 12 hitting in the 4th.

Rothschild doubled in Pascual in the 2nd before scoring himself on a single by Rowe. Chasin Cash doubled down the third base line in the 3rd to plate Taylor.

Then came the 5th inning.

Rothschild singled and Trenton Hedgepeth and Glass walked to fill the bags. Nathaniel picked up an RBI by taking a pitch off the top of his helmet for an 11-0 lead.

Jackson got a second out, but the Stallions’ surge was only getting started. Taylor walked for an RBI, then Cash drove in two on a hit. Jabari Daniely made for another hit batsman to re-load the bases.

The next man up, Witmer, was also hit, but two wild pitches meant two runs score an no RBI for Witmer. Rothschild’s single scored Daniely, the last hit and last run of the evening for ABAC.

With so much offense, odds seem low for a pitcher to share the spotlight. Jeb Johnson did.

Johnson threw a complete game two-hitter. He struck out seven and faced 16 hitters, only one over the minimum.

The Stallions scored 17 runs on 12 hits in the second game. Thirteen men had a chance to hit for ABAC, including Tift County High alum Cameron Sumner.

Rothschild had another impressive game, going 4-for-4 with three runs driven in. Cash had three RBIs as well.

Having won four of their last five, ABAC heads for Wallace Community College (Ala.) March 13 and has a March 15 doubleheader against Thomas University’s junior varsity. They begin their GCAA schedule March 21 with a home doubleheader against Georgia Highlands.