Bowles, Eagles Rout Crusaders, 13-10

STATESBORO, GA - Georgia Southern scored nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and held on through a late Holy Cross rally for a 13-10 win over the Crusaders on Sunday (Feb. 28) at J.I. Clements Stadium. For the second straight day, Holy Cross struck first with single runs in the first two innings, but GS erased that deficit quickly with its offensive output in the fourth.

Kevin Bowles (Statesboro, Ga.) went 3-for-3 and Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) hit a two-run homer to pace the Eagles (3-4), who led 13-5 after six innings. After the Crusaders (0-2) battled back and had the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth, reliever Dexter Bobo (Cumming, Ga.) recorded the final out for Georgia Southern's first save of the season.

The Eagles were out-hit 18-10, but drew 11 walks and were hit by two pitches. The Crusaders also committed four errors - although none of the miscues led to an unearned run.

Bowles was the only Georgia Southern player with more than one hit, while A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) and Roache each had two RBIs apiece.

Eagle starter Trent Franzago (1-0), a Bryon, Ga., native, pitched five innings for the win. The first of five Georgia Southern pitchers, he allowed five runs (all earned) on nine hits with six strikeouts and one walk.

Holy Cross grabbed an early 2-0 lead on Eric Oxford's sacrifice fly in the first and Brendan McCrea's RBI double in the second.

But the Eagles quickly went ahead to stay with their fourth-inning outburst. With 13 sent batters to plate against four Crusader pitchers, the Eagles used five walks, four hits, three wild pitches, and one hit batter, balk, and passed ball to take a 9-2 lead. Wirnsberger had an RBI double and a run-scoring fielder's choice, while Steve Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.) had an RBI double, Phillips had a two-run single, and Kyle Blackburn (Marietta, Ga.) posted an RBI single.

Holy Cross scored three runs in the top of the fifth to slice GS's comfortable cushion. Steven Tkowski had a run-scoring groundout while Chris Sintetos and Nick Ciardello contributed RBI singles as the Crusaders cut Georgia Southern's lead to 9-5.

Arthur Owens (Fayetteville, Ga.) had an RBI single for the Eagles in the bottom of the fifth to gain a run back, but the Eagles would use the sixth to extend their lead. Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.) had an RBI double before Roache belted his second homer of the season, a line drive to left-center field with one man on that gave the Eagles a 13-5 advantage.

Holy Cross added two runs in the seventh and sliced the game to a three run margin in the next frame. Taking advantage of a Georgia Southern error that led to two unearned runs, the Crusaders added three runs in the eighth using Puentes and John Sills RBI singles to cut the score, 13-10. With runners on first and second, Georgia Southern third baseman Roman Grimaldi (Duluth, Ga.) made a diving stop and recorded the putout at first to end the inning and keep GS in the lead.

In the ninth, a pair of one-out singles put Holy Cross runners on first and second with one out. Reliever Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) got a strikeout before yielding to Bobo, who coaxed a fielder's choice to Phillips at shortstop for the last out of the game.

Seven different players had at least two hits apiece for the Crusaders. McCrea was 4-for-5 with three runs and Matt Perry was 3-for-6.

Holy Cross starter Vaughn Hayward (0-1) was charged with the loss. The first of six Crusader pitchers, he worked 3.1 innings, giving up five runs (all earned) on three hits with no strikeouts and five walks.

The two teams will conclude their three-game series on Monday (March 1) at 6 p.m.

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