Baseball's Late Comeback Falls Short at JU
3/10/2009 4:17:00 AM | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Georgia Southern committed two errors early, leading to five unearned runs, and fell short in its comeback losing 8-7 at Jacksonville Tuesday night (March 10). The Eagles dropped to 11-1 overall.
Georgia Southern got on the board in the first inning. Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) lined a one-out double and scored thanks to Ty Wright's (Montrose/ABAC) two-out single through the left side.
JU (7-5) loaded the bases in the second inning off two singles and a walk. With two outs, Esterlin Perozo lifted a fly ball to Porter in right. He could not make the play as all four runs would score, putting the Dolphins ahead by three. JU would add another unearned run in the third when Thomas Myers reached on an error to start the frame and scored on a groundout.
Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) singled in the fourth, extending his streak to 8-for-8 with two walks in his last 10 plate appearances. He eventually scored on Eric Phillips' (Carrollton/Carrollton) groundout.
Kevin Bowles (Statesboro/Statesboro) was hit by a pitch to start the fifth. Relief pitcher Joey Wedner tried to pick Bowles off first base but his throw sailed into right field putting him on third base. Bowles scored on a wild pitch, making it 5-3 Jacksonville.
The Dolphins plated three more runs in the fifth and sixth innings, taking an 8-3 lead. The Eagles loaded the bases in the seventh thanks to two hit batters and a wild pitch. Benedict brought home a run when he was hit by a pitch, chasing relief pitcher Baker Chapman. Wright greeted Matt Loosen with a RBI single but two strikeouts ended the Eagles' threat.
GS scored two more in the eighth, taking advantage of a RBI double from Porter and two errors by second baseman Jamaal Hawkins ? the last off the bat of Benedict which brought home Porter.
Jacksonville threatened in the eighth to add insurance runs, loading the bases with one out. Dexter Bobo (Cumming/Darton College) got a strikeout and flyball to end the threat.
Wright went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Porter had two doubles and two runs scored while Bowles reached base and scored three times.
Colin Snow (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) gave up five unearned runs on five hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out a season-high five batters but fell to 1-1.
Chuck Opachich went 4-for-5 including a RBI triple. Hawkins had two hits and two runs scored. Matt Tomshaw improved to 1-1, allowing two runs on four hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four.
The Eagles return to J.I. Clements Stadium on Wednesday night (March 11), playing host to Bethune-Cookman. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
