Eagles Complete Sweep of Towson

STATESBORO, Ga. – Kyle Blackburn (Marietta/Walton) hit a pair of solo home runs to support another solid pitching performance as Georgia Southern completed a sweep of Towson 11-5 Sunday afternoon (March 2) at J.I. Clements Stadium. The Eagles improved to 4-4 this year while Towson dropped to 2-4.

Blackburn put the Eagles on the scoreboard first, nailing a solo homer to start the bottom of the second. It was his third homer of the year, moving into a share of the team lead. Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) dropped a two-out double down the left field line. He stole second base then scored when catcher Jason Stifler’s throw sailed past third baseman Steve Yarskinsky.

The Eagles plated two more runs in the third. Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) drew a one-out walk. He stole second then scored on Phillip Porter’s (Marietta/Sprayberry) single into the right field gap. Porter stole second then went to third on Stifler’s second throwing error of the game. Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) hit a RBI double off the right field wall, his first double of the year for a 4-0 lead.

Greg Furmanek hit his team-leading third home run, a solo shot to start the fourth making it 4-1 GS. A walk and error put two more runners on with two outs for the Tigers. Nick Natoli lined a 2-run double down the left field line.

A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) kept his hot bat going, hitting a 2-run blast with two down in the fifth inning. His second homer in as many days extended the Eagles’ lead to 6-3.

Tony Chisman (Conyers/Salem) came on in relief to start the sixth. Towson used a walk and three straight singles to plate a run. Ryan Steidl (Randolph, N.J./Morris Knolls) gave up a RBI single as the Tigers made it a 6-5 game, still with no one out.

First baseman Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) fielded a grounder and got a force out at home for the first out of the inning. Shortstop Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) made a back-handed slide on Yarsinsky’s grounder and started an impressive 6-4-3 inning-ending double play to get out of the jam.

GS exploded in the eighth inning to blow the game open. Blackburn opened with his second home run of the game. Benedict added a RBI double. With two outs Miller added a 2-run double then Porter delivered a RBI single for the final margin.

Moye gave up three runs (only one earned) off five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out four, improving to 2-0. Blake Nation (Brooks/Starr’s Mill) came on in the seventh inning. He blanked the Tigers over the last three frames, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out two. The junior right hander earned his first career save. With 10 Ks already this year in eight innings, Nation has nearly matched his two-year career total of 11.

Blackburn recorded his second career 2-HR game, in addition to two walks, three runs and two RBI. Miller scored two and drove in two runs. Porter finished today with three hits, nine in 14 at-bats throughout the series. Benedict added two hits and scored twice.

Nate Curd (0-1) was charged for six runs (five earned) on seven hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out two. Natoli and Austin Harclerode had three hits apiece as Towson actually out-hit the Eagles 14-12.

Category: Baseball

Published on Sunday, 02 March 2008 00:03