LAKEWOOD, NJ (March 31, 2026) - Playing at ShoreTown Ballpark, home of the Jersey Shore Blue Claws. GCU had the bats working and got a strong pitching performance from Jackson Cooper in a 12-9 win. 

How it Happened
• Caldwell outhit GCU, 14-10. The Lions beared down defensively and stranded 10 Cougars on base.
• Georgian Court was tremendous with two outs, hitting .438. Six of their 12 runs were scored with two outs.
• The Lions played a clean game in the field while Caldwell made two errors and allowed an unearned run.
• Georgian Court struck out eight batters and walked five. Caldwell walked four and fanned four. 
• The game started with a leadoff double, single and consecutive four-pitch walks. A sacrifice fly made it 2-0 Caldwell before Michael Zitola, Jr. departed with an injury.
• Jackson Cooper entered and walked the first batter to load the bases. He escaped though getting a pop up and a strikeout to end the inning and limit the damage to just two runs.
• It took no time for Georgian Court to respond. Oliver Santana led off with a triple that eluded the right fielder. He came in to score on Frankie Noviello's single. One batter later, Jack Greenspan doubled off the wall in left center to tie the game.
• Greenspan came in to score on a sacrifice fly and the Lions put up three in the inning and led 3-2 after an eventful first inning.
• Caldwell re-took the lead in the fourth. With two out and two in scoring position, both runners scored on a long double to right center putting the Cougars back up one, 4-3.
• It took one swing for GCU to tie the game back up. It came off the bat of Brian Guzman who went very deep to left for a game-tying solo home run.
• GCU took the lead taking advantage of some Cougar defensive miscues. Two errors in the inning, plus a pair of wild pitches allowed an unearned run to score for a 5-4 GCU lead.
• The Lions led off the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back extra-base hits. Jack Osmond tripled to left center and John Smith brought him in with a double to right center. 
• The inning continued and a ground ball and bases loaded hit-by-pitch scored two more. Guzman then broke it open with his second extra-base hit of the inning. With the bases still loaded, he kept one fair inside the left field line and all three runners came in to score, putting GCU up 11-4.
• Caldwell got right back into the game in the top of the seventh. They scored four runs, all with two-outs. The biggest hit, a bases loaded pinch-hit double to score three. 
• Georgian Court gave themselves an extra run of insurance in the bottom of the inning. Jack Greenspan's seeing-eye single brought in Frankie Noviello with the Lions' 12th run.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Jackson Cooper in emergency duty pitched extremely well. He went 4.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits with six strikeouts.
• Brian Guzman doubled, homered and drove in four runs.
• Jack Osmond finished 2-4 with a triple and two runs scored.
• Frankie Noviello scored three times with a single and a walk.
• Jack Greenspan had a three-hit day going 3-4 with two runs and two RBI.

For the Cougars
• Stephen Young, Jr. finished 3-5 with three RBI.
• Devon Cass pinch hit and went 2-2 with a double and two RBI.
• Isaiah Robinson collected four hits in five at bats and scored a run.
• Sadiel Rodriguez went 2-5 with a run and an RBI.

News and Notes
• Brian Guzman's home run was the Lions first home run at ShoreTown Ballpark.
• Every GCU starter in the line up had either a hit or a run scored. 
• GCU finished the season series 1-2 against Caldwell. 
• This was the Lions first win playing at ShoreTown Ballpark. 
• This was the Lions first game without an error since March 7, 15 games ago. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court plays a doubleheader at Goldey-Beacom Thursday, April 2, beginning at 12 pm.