Rare Play Ends Eagles' Season
5/25/2007 9:07:00 PM | Baseball
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? One of the rarest plays in baseball ended Georgia Southern's season on Friday afternoon (May 25) in the Southern Conference Tournament. Facing the bases loaded and no one out in the ninth inning, trying to hold onto an 8-6 lead, the Spartans turned the triple play and advanced in the tournament. The Eagles end the 2007 campaign 34-28 overall.
Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius), the hero in yesterday's win over Western Carolina with a walk-off single, started the ninth with a walk. That was his fourth walk in the game, tying a GS record. Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) singled up the middle. That brought in relief pitcher Alex Shelton.
He hit A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant), who was squaring around to bunt, to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Justin Klinger (Hatfield, PA/North Penn), who was hitting .450 against left-handed pitching, hit a shallow popup on the grass and the umpires never signaled for an infield flyball. Second baseman Tim Carrier caught the popup, touched second base for the first out and threw over to first baseman Ricky Orton for the third out.
Georgia Southern struck first quickly. Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) led off the game with a single through the left side. Mike Economos (Atlanta/Marist) followed with an opposite field home run on a 2-2 pitch, his 10th homer on the season, for a 2-0 lead.
UNC Greensboro threatened in the first. Matt Gaski drew a one-out walk and stole second when Brian Wilkerson (Bonaire/Houston County) struck out Guy Welsh. Ricky Orton drove a ball to deep centerfield but Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) raced back and made the catch at the fence to end the inning.
Southwell singled to start the second inning. He advanced to second base on a groundout. Shehan lined a two-out RBI single, scoring Southwell for a 3-0 lead.
Miller hit his second home run in as many games, a solo shot to start the third. That extended the lead to 4-0. The Eagles threatened for more. Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) ripped a double to center, chasing Spartans starter Rob Gilliam. Brandon Harvey walked Benedict and hit Southwell to load the bases. However, Wirnsberger hit a soft grounder which UNCG was able to turn a quick inning-ending double play.
The Spartans scored in their half of the inning. UNCG hit consecutive singles to start the inning. With one out Gaski singled to load the bases. Wilkerson walked Welsh to bring home a run. Orton lined a shot back to Wilkerson, who was able to start an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.
GS got that run back in the fourth. Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) drew a leadoff walk. He advanced to second on a groundout and third on a flyball. Miller moved into a share of the team-lead hitting his 21st double of the year, scoring Pierce.
Sean Snell hit a 2-run homer in the fourth, cutting the Eagles' lead to 5-3. A two-out rally in the fifth gave the Spartans their first lead. Wilkerson recorded the first two outs of the inning before giving up back-to-back singles. David Cogswell (Toccoa/Stephens County) entered the game but Snell hit his second home run in as many innings, a 3-run shot for a 6-5 advantage.
Miller and Parker hit one-out singles in the sixth. They advanced on a passed ball and Miller scored on Kyle Blackburn's (Marietta/Walton) sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine) gave up a leadoff single in the seventh. UNCG hit two flyballs to Miller in center. A single and hit batter loaded the bases but Kamppi struck out Adam Deleo to end the frame.
UNCG took the lead in the eighth. Tim Carrier reached on a fielding error with one out. He stole second and scored on Welsh's two-out RBI triple down the right field line. Orton followed with a RBI single to make it 8-6.
Miller banged out a season-high four hits while Southwell matched his career-high of three. Miller drove in two runs and scored twice. Benedict joins Miller and seven other Eagles having drawn four walks in a game.
Kamppi (4-3) gave up the two unearned runs on four hits in two innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. Wilkerson gave up five runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Snell finished 3-for-4 with two runs and five RBI. Harvey, who logged only 8.2 innings this year heading into the game, picked up his first win. He gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked six and struck out two.
Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius), the hero in yesterday's win over Western Carolina with a walk-off single, started the ninth with a walk. That was his fourth walk in the game, tying a GS record. Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) singled up the middle. That brought in relief pitcher Alex Shelton.
He hit A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant), who was squaring around to bunt, to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Justin Klinger (Hatfield, PA/North Penn), who was hitting .450 against left-handed pitching, hit a shallow popup on the grass and the umpires never signaled for an infield flyball. Second baseman Tim Carrier caught the popup, touched second base for the first out and threw over to first baseman Ricky Orton for the third out.
Georgia Southern struck first quickly. Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) led off the game with a single through the left side. Mike Economos (Atlanta/Marist) followed with an opposite field home run on a 2-2 pitch, his 10th homer on the season, for a 2-0 lead.
UNC Greensboro threatened in the first. Matt Gaski drew a one-out walk and stole second when Brian Wilkerson (Bonaire/Houston County) struck out Guy Welsh. Ricky Orton drove a ball to deep centerfield but Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) raced back and made the catch at the fence to end the inning.
Southwell singled to start the second inning. He advanced to second base on a groundout. Shehan lined a two-out RBI single, scoring Southwell for a 3-0 lead.
Miller hit his second home run in as many games, a solo shot to start the third. That extended the lead to 4-0. The Eagles threatened for more. Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) ripped a double to center, chasing Spartans starter Rob Gilliam. Brandon Harvey walked Benedict and hit Southwell to load the bases. However, Wirnsberger hit a soft grounder which UNCG was able to turn a quick inning-ending double play.
The Spartans scored in their half of the inning. UNCG hit consecutive singles to start the inning. With one out Gaski singled to load the bases. Wilkerson walked Welsh to bring home a run. Orton lined a shot back to Wilkerson, who was able to start an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.
GS got that run back in the fourth. Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) drew a leadoff walk. He advanced to second on a groundout and third on a flyball. Miller moved into a share of the team-lead hitting his 21st double of the year, scoring Pierce.
Sean Snell hit a 2-run homer in the fourth, cutting the Eagles' lead to 5-3. A two-out rally in the fifth gave the Spartans their first lead. Wilkerson recorded the first two outs of the inning before giving up back-to-back singles. David Cogswell (Toccoa/Stephens County) entered the game but Snell hit his second home run in as many innings, a 3-run shot for a 6-5 advantage.
Miller and Parker hit one-out singles in the sixth. They advanced on a passed ball and Miller scored on Kyle Blackburn's (Marietta/Walton) sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine) gave up a leadoff single in the seventh. UNCG hit two flyballs to Miller in center. A single and hit batter loaded the bases but Kamppi struck out Adam Deleo to end the frame.
UNCG took the lead in the eighth. Tim Carrier reached on a fielding error with one out. He stole second and scored on Welsh's two-out RBI triple down the right field line. Orton followed with a RBI single to make it 8-6.
Miller banged out a season-high four hits while Southwell matched his career-high of three. Miller drove in two runs and scored twice. Benedict joins Miller and seven other Eagles having drawn four walks in a game.
Kamppi (4-3) gave up the two unearned runs on four hits in two innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. Wilkerson gave up five runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Snell finished 3-for-4 with two runs and five RBI. Harvey, who logged only 8.2 innings this year heading into the game, picked up his first win. He gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked six and struck out two.
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