Baseball Picks Up Series Victory on Saturday

STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind a quick offensive start and all-around solid pitching, the Georgia Southern Baseball team improved to 2-0 to start the year for the first time since the 2009 season. The Eagles picked up their first series victory of the new year along the way, defeating the UT Martin Skyhawks 10-1 on Saturday.

Georgia Southern jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and led 6-0 before the pitching staff allowed its first run in the sixth inning. Josh Adams (Bath, S.C.) allowed hits in the first three innings of his first start of the season, but left without surrendering a run. Adams allowed three hits in four innings but labored at times walking three batters in 64 pitches. Lucas Hart (Atlanta, Ga.) picked up the win in his career debut, allowing one run on two hits in two innings of work out of the pen.

Adams got help from his defense which got him out of jams in the first and fourth innings. A strong throw from Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) after a fly out in the first inning nabbed Jordan Owen, who tagged following the out, advancing to second base. With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Adams coaxed a ground out to short to end the frame.

UT Martin (0-2) was held to seven hits after 11 last night and scored just the lone run on a Byron Johann single. Matt Haynes tallied two hits and loaded the bases in the eighth inning. The Skyhawks came up empty after a strikeout of Matt Milligan left three runners stranded. Brendan Lozupone (0-1) was tagged with the loss in his return from injury and allowed four runs on four hits over one inning. 

Georgia Southern opened with a quick three-run lead in the first inning due in part to Victor Roache's (Ypsilanti, Mich.) two-run homer, his first of the season. T.D. Davis (Evans, Ga.), who was one of three Eagles with multiple hits, hustled to beat out a double play with runner's on the corners and allowed a third run to score in the inning. Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.) doubled with one out and scored on Roache's homer over the left field power alley.

The Eagles, who finished the day with 12 hits, added a fourth run in the second inning on a RBI ground out by Burruss and tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning. A four run eighth inning sealed the series victory after GSU nearly batted around in the inning. Five-straight batters reached to open the eighth, including a lead off walk by Williams. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) batted for the second time in two games with the bases loaded and plated two runs on a single to center field. Garren Palmer (Dalton, Ga.)drove in another with a pinch-hit single to center.

A lead off single by Jordan Owen turned into UT Martin's first run of the contest in the sixth inning. Owen quickly reached third base on a stolen base and a wild pitch. He later scored on a single from Byron Johann.

The three-game series concludes Sunday at 1:30 p.m. All games this season can be heard on the Boomer 103.7 FM and inside the stadium on 88.1 FM.

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Category: Baseball

Published on Saturday, 18 February 2012 18:36