Baseball Falls to Wofford in Series Opener

STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Baseball (26-20, 13-9 SoCon) fell to Wofford (20-26, 7-15 SoCon) 7-2 in the series opener at J.I. Clements Stadium Friday night. The Eagles were unable to solve Terrier starter Cash Collins (W, 8-2), who held GSU to three hits and one unearned run over seven innings.

For the second start in a row, Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) ran into trouble in the first inning. The sophomore pitcher (L, 6-3) allowed two runs on five hits and left after the fourth inning. Taylor Burke (Statesboro, Ga.) gave Georgia Southern a lift out of the bullpen with a season-high three innings pitched. Burke did not allow a run and gave up only two hits and two walks.

Beck retired Wofford in order in the second and third innings before getting in an one-out jam in the fourth inning. He left both runners stranded after recording a strike out and getting Alex Lee to pop up to first base.

After the two-run first inning, neither team scored again until the sixth inning. Wofford scored five runs to put the contest out of reach with a 7-0 lead. The Eagles got two runs back with single tallies in the seventh and eighth inning, but were unable to rally.

All five Wofford runs in the sixth inning were unearned and only one was tagged to a pitcher after two errant throws. The Eagles committed four errors in the contest with two coming in the sixth inning. However, GSU took advantage of the lone Wofford error in the seventh inning, scoring an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by Stryker Brown (Dalton, Ga.). Brown got the start at third base, his first of the season, and had a hit in the fifth inning.

Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) never recorded an official at-bat after being walked three times and hit by a pitch. The Eagles were only able to cash in on it in the eighth, scoring a run on a RBI-single by Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.).

Georgia Southern got a runner on base in the ninth inning after Arthur Owens (Fayetteville, Ga.) recorded his third-straight hit, a pinch-hit single, with one out. However, a ground out and a strikeout ended any chance of an Eagle rally.

Georgia Southern and Wofford play game two tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. with the Wall of Fame Ceremony, honoring the careers of former Eagle greats Julio Ayala and Brett Lewis, set for Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at J.I. Clements Stadium. The series finale is set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

All games can be heard on Eagle 102.9 FM in Statesboro and are also available online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch. Ryan Chambers of the Georgia Southern Radio Network will call all the action.

Fans may follow Georgia Southern Baseball by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/baseball or check in at twitter.com/GSAthletics or facebook.com/GSAthletics for short updates.

Category: Baseball

Published on Friday, 06 May 2011 23:39