Eagles Cruise to 10-Run Win at Wofford

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Georgia Southern plated seven runs in the fourth inning and cruised to a 15-5 win at Wofford Friday night (April 25) in the Southern Conference series opener. The Eagles improved to .500 in league play (23-18 overall, 8-8 SoCon).

Wofford (20-23, 4-12) threatened in the second, using a one-out error and double to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Drew Murray (LaGrange/LaGrange) struck out Neil Robinette on a called third strike then got a groundout off the bat of Josh McKinney to end the threat. From there the Eagles took off.

Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) lined a one-out single in the third. He stole second then Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) drew a walk. Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) lined a single off the foot of third base umpire David Pritchett. That hit forced the runners to advance just one base to load them up. A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) drew a four-pitch walk to bring home one run. David Richardson (Dahlonega/Lumpkin County) beat out a grounder fielder’s choice to plate another run.

The Eagles broke the game open in the fourth, sending 13 batters to the plate. Ty Wright (Montrose/West Laurens) hit his 12th home run of the year, a 2-run blast. Benedict lined a RBI single up the middle then two batters later Wirnsberger ripped a 3-run homer over the left field fence. He moved into a share of the team-lead hitting number 14 this year. Richardson singled, stole second and eventually scored when left fielder Kyle Behrendt couldn’t field Brian Pierce’s (Roswell/Roswell) single, making it 9-0.

Keith Munns hit a 2-run double with two down in the sixth, but the Eagles got those two runs back and then some in their half of the seventh.

Benedict and Parker hit consecutive RBI singles. Two batters later Richardson hammered a 3-run blast to the left field gap, extending the lead to 14-2.

Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth. McKinney hit a 3-run homer in the ninth for the final margin.

Murray (6-1) allowed just two runs on five hits in six innings. His eight strikeouts were one shy of his personal-high to just one walk issued. Trent Franzago (Byron/Peach County) retired all six batters he faced, including striking out the side during the eighth.

Richardson finished with three hits and four RBI. Pierce, Benedict and Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) had two hits apiece. Wirnsberger matched Richardson for team-high honors driving in four.

Scott Summers (5-6) was charged for nine runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings. He walked four and struck out three. Munns had two doubles and two RBI.

Game two of the series is set for Saturday afternoon (April 26), first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.

Category: Baseball

Published on Friday, 25 April 2008 00:23