STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern Baseball dropped the series finale to Little Rock 17-8 on Sunday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium. The Trojans scored five in the second to blow the game open, but the Eagles made things interesting through the middle innings, butting the lead to 7-3 and 11-8 before Little Rock scored six runs over the final three innings. Next up for the Eagles is an eight-game road swing which starts on Tuesday at Kennesaw State.
Kent Rollins and
Logan Baldwin had two hits each on Sunday while
Hunter Thomas came off the bench in the fifth inning to hit a grand slam which cut the Little Rock lead to 11-8.
Ryan Cleveland saw his 11-game hit streak come to an end as he went 0-for-2.
Little Rock improves to 20-18 overall and 13-8 in the Sun Belt. Georgia Southern falls to 24-17 on the year and 10-11 in Sun Belt play.
CRITICAL MOMENTS
TOP 1ST – Little Rock needed just two batters to take an early 2-0 lead with a two-run home run from the nation's leading hitter, Ryan Scott.
BOTTOM 1ST – The Eagles got their leadoff batter on in the first with a single, but a two-out double by
Jordan Wren to right field got the Eagles on the board. A base running miscue, however, accounted for the final out as
Ryan Cleveland got caught in a rundown.
TOP 2ND – The Trojans hit a five-spot in the second thanks to three hits and three walks. The runs made the lead 7-1.
BOTTOM 3RD –
Logan Baldwin's RBI triple and Wren's sacrifice fly gave the Eagles two runs in the third to cut the lead to 7-3 with three in the books.
TOP 4TH – Little Rock got two hits to put runners on the corners, but it was a balk which allowed a run to score and push the lead to 8-4.
BOTTOM 4TH – A leadoff walk to
Kent Rollins, followed by a single from CJ Brazil put runners on. A wild pitch moved Rollins to third, but Brazil was cut down at second.
Will Hudgins lifted a sacrifice fly down the right field line, sending Rollins home.
TOP 5TH – Three walks and two fielding errors from the Eagles made the advantage 11-4 headed into the home half of the fifth.
BOTTOM 5TH – Two Little Rock pitchers combined to hit three batters and load the bases for pinch hitter
Hunter Thomas. The senior lefty clobbered his fourth home run of the season over the fence in right. It was his second grand slam of the season and his 11th RBI of the year with the bases loaded.
TOP 7TH – Little Rock got two runs off three hits and an Eagle error to push the lead back to 13-8.
TOP 8TH – The Trojans added two more in the eighth when Owens hit a single up the middle with runners on second and third. That made it a 15-8 lead for the visitors.
TOP 9TH – A home run for Gifford with no outs in the ninth accounted for the final margin of 17-8.
NOTES
- Little Rock's Preston Oberling pitched the final 3.2 innings to earn his first win of the year while
Brian Eichhorn went 1.2 innings, allowing seven runs off four hits and four walks to take his second loss of the year.
- Sunday's loss gave Little Rock the series win after the Eagles won game one with a walk-off single.
UP NEXT
Georgia Southern visits Kennesaw State on Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. contest on the northern reaches of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. The Eagles defeated the Owls 10-9 in a 12-inning contest which clocked in as the Eagles longest of the year at 4:50. After Tuesday's game, the Eagles visit UL Monroe for a weekend series.
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