LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Top seed and host Georgia Gwinnett (50-13) defeated third seeded St. Thomas (43-16) 10-3 Thursday afternoon to force a winner-take-all championship game on Friday in the Lawrenceville Bracket of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.  The two teams will meet again in the Championship Game with the winner earning a spot in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
 
St. Thomas scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third with Michael Centeno scoring on a wild pitch.  Georgia Gwinnett answered however with three runs in the fourth and four more runs in the fifth to open up a 7-1 lead.
 
The Bobcats showed signs of life in the top of the seventh scoring two runs with Jerry Downs hitting an RBI-single to score Centeno followed by Nico Hernandez scoring on a stolen base.  The Grizzlies would answer again with three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
 
GGC's Alex Roberts earned the win, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out eight over six innings.  Andy Threatt pitched three shutout innings in relief of Roberts.
 
Right-handed pitcher Ben Ancheff started the game for the Bobcats and retired the first nine batters he faced.  Ancheff ran in to trouble in the fourth and fifth innings however allowing three runs on four hits and a walk to take the loss.  Alex Sarmiento, Andres Hernandez and Andrew Denis all saw action in relief for STU.
 
Offensively, Downs led the Bobcats, going 3-3 with an RBI and two stolen bases.  Steven Fischer (2-4, double) was the only other Bobcat with a multi-hit game.
 
The two teams will meet Friday for the third time in the five-team, double-elimination Opening Round in Lawrenceville, Ga.  In their first meeting, the Bobcats won 10-2 on Tuesday night forcing the Grizzlies to come up through the loser's side of the bracket.  First pitch for Friday's Championship Game is set for 11 a.m.  Live stats/broadcast will be available at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ggc/