Eagles Drop a Nail-Biter to Open the Samford Series

STATESBORO, Ga. - In a nail-biter of a series opener, a two-run sixth inning for Samford proved the difference on a warm Friday night at J.I. Clements Stadium. The 5-4 loss was the first-ever suffered by the Georgia Southern Baseball team in the series at home. The Eagles had been previously 9-0 at home and had won eight of the last 10 meetings.

In what was a back-and-forth game early, back-to-back RBI singles from C.K. Irby and Tommy Corbin in the sixth inning put Samford (31-16, 17-8) on top for the final time. Georgia Southern (25-22, 11-11) starter Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) allowed a one-out double to Phillip Ervin and walked Brandon Miller before allowing the go ahead base hits. Beck (4-6) dropped his fourth-straight decision and his first ever to Samford after allowing all five runs over six innings.

Samford starter Charles Basford had his own struggles early and allowed four runs through the first four innings but settled down to combine with the bullpen for five scoreless frames. Basford (8-1) tied Saturday starter Josh Martin with his eighth win of the season after surrendering three earned runs in 6.1 quality innings. The pen provided 2.2 no-hit innings to close out the ball game, and Arthur Strauss (S, 2) struck out a pair of batters in a perfect ninth inning.

The Eagles held a 4-3 lead after a solo shot from Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) in the fourth inning and were ahead 3-1 after a third inning two-out double from Tyler Avera (Baxley, Ga.) plated a run in Stryker Brown (Dalton, Ga.). Brown doubled down the first base line and made a diving catch in the top half of the frame to rob Butler of a lead off single.

Keeping the runner off the bases on Brown's catch in the top of the fourth proved crucial. After the fly out, Beck allowed back-to-back home runs to Ervin and Brandon Miller, which tied the game at 3-3. Ervin hit a solo shot off the foul pole in left field before Miller followed with his single season school record 18th home run over the right field fence.

The Bulldogs tallied the first run of the game in the opening inning on a single from Saxon Butler, but Georgia Southern rallied for three runs over the next two frames. The Eagles jumped ahead 2-1 in the second inning on a single by Brent Pugh (Atlanta, Ga.) and a couple of walks. A throwing error by Miller on a hit-and-run during Pugh's at-bat allowed Avera to score the first run from third base. Pugh later crossed the plate on a two-out fielder's choice by Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.).

The three-game series continues this weekend with games on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Justin Hess (3-2, 4.76) will look to continue his hot pitching from the month of April when he takes the mound against Josh Martin (8-1, 3.34) tomorrow.

All baseball games this season can be heard on the Boomer 103.7 FM and inside J.I. Clements Stadium on 88.1 FM. Audio for all games is also available on the web and subscription video is available for all home games at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision.

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Category: Baseball

Published on Friday, 04 May 2012 21:58