Baseball Completes Sweep of Davidson
4/19/2009 9:41:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Starting pitching was the key for Georgia Southern again as Matt Murray (Spring City, PA/Owen Roberts) pitched six strong innings helping the Eagles complete a Southern Conference sweep of Davidson, 11-2 on Sunday afternoon (April 19) at J.I. Clements Stadium. The 27th-ranked Eagles (28-9 overall, 12-4 SoCon) improved to 21-3 at home this year.
Davidson (13-20, 8-10) used back-to-back doubles from Zach Kayne and Drew Gadaire to start off the game and take a 1-0 lead. Much like when Davidson struck first on Friday night, the Eagles responded in their half of the inning.
Ty Wright (Montrose/ABAC) hit a popup in front of home plate that catcher Seth Freeman misplayed. Wright stole second and third base on consecutive pitches then scored on Griffin Benedict's (Dunwoody/St. Pius) sacrifice fly.
In fact, the Eagles scored in each of the first four innings, jumping out to a 9-1 lead. Jonathan King (Athens, TN/Young Harris) hit a RBI single in the second then Wright brought home another run on a sacrifice fly. In the third, with runners on second and third, Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) hit a grounder to second baseman Graham Chapman. Despite the infield playing in, Benedict was able to beat Chapman's throw home and give the Eagles a 4-1 lead. Randy J. Williams (Valdosta/Andrew College) lined a sacrifice fly for the fifth run of the game.
Georgia Southern scored four times in the fourth off Matt Webb. Benedict extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a RBI single. Southwell lined a 2-run single then Williams hit a RBI double, making it 9-1 Eagles.
That would be more than enough run support for Murray. Following the lead of Chris Mederos (1 run/8.0 IP) and Jake Brown (1 run/6.0 IP), Murray gave up just the one leadoff run on nine hits in six innings of work. The freshman right-hander (3-2) matched a season-high of six strikeouts and did not walk a batter.
The Eagles added a RBI single from Williams in the sixth then Kevin Bowles (Statesboro/Statesboro) added a RBI double in the seventh.
Chase FitzPatrick delivered a RBI single in the seventh for the Wildcats other run scored.
Williams set a season-high going 4-for-4 at the plate with three RBI. Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) and Wright stayed hot all weekend long. Pierce added three hits and Wright recorded two more as the pair of seniors both went 9-for-13 at the plate during the weekend.
The Eagles out-hit Davidson 16-13 in game three, and out-scored the Wildcats 43-17 in the three-game series. The bullpen kept Davidson from getting a big inning, much like the Wildcats did late on Friday and Saturday. Colin Snow (Alpharetta/Alpharetta), Dexter Bobo (Cumming/Darton College) and Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine) combined for one run on four hits in the final three innings.
Webb (3-1) was charged for nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four. FitzPatrick finished with four hits while Pat Brady added three.
GS wraps up a five-game homestand, facing Charleston Southern on Tuesday night (April 21). First pitch at J.I. Clements Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m.
