Eagles Steal Herd's Thunder, 4-3
3/7/2010 12:13:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, GA - Georgia Southern’s Steve Cochrane delivered a tie-breaking single in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Eagles edged Marshall 4-3 on Saturday (March 6) at J.I. Clements Stadium.
A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) led off the sixth with a two-run homer for Georgia Southern (5-6), which rallied from a 2-0 deficit for its second straight win over the Thundering Herd (4-5).
Winning pitcher Matt Murray (1-0) and two Eagle relievers scattered 10 hits and limited Marshall to two earned runs. Murray worked 6.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Colin Snow (Alpharetta, Ga.) pitched a scoreless inning before yielding to Dexter Bobo (Cumming, Ga.), who went the last 1.2 innings for his second save of the season.
A crowd of 1,936 watched as Thundering Herd starter Shane Farrell took a two-hit shutout and a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth. He walked Kyle Blackburn (Marietta, Ga.) on a 3-2 pitch before surrendering Wirnsberger’s fourth home run of the season, a shot to left-center field that tied the game.
Arik Sikula relieved Farrell and walked Kevin Bowles (Statesboro, Ga.), whose threat on the bases was ended when caught stealing. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) singled and moved to second on a balk before being caught between second and third on a fielder’s choice groundball to Sikula.
However, Phillips escaped the ensuing rundown and ended up on third base with Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.) approaching the plate. The junior followed with a run-scoring single to right-center field that broke a 2-2 tie and put Georgia Southern ahead 3-2.
Marshall had men on first and third with one out in the top of the seventh, but Snow entered in relief and worked his way out of the jam with a popup to the third baseman and a fielder’s choice to the shortstop.
The Thundering Herd threatened again in the top of the eighth, putting a man on second with one out, but a pitching change put Bobo on the mound who forced the last two outs with a strikeout and a grounder to the shortstop.
The Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out single to right-center field by Arthur Owens (Fayetteville, Ga), scoring Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.).
Trailing 4-2, Marshall pulled to within a run on Chris Norton’s RBI single with two out in the top of the ninth. Norton advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Bobo retired the next batter on a popup to the shortstop for the final out of the game.
The Thundering Herd built a 2-0 lead in the first two innings. They scored an unearned run in the top of the first on Josh Valle’s RBI single, and added another run on Isaac Ballou’s RBI single in the top of the second.
The Eagles finished the game with seven hits and drew eight walks. They also stole five bases. Wirnsberger was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run and Owens went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
For Marshall, Valle and Victor Gomez were both 2-for-4.
Sikula (1-2) was charged with the loss. In 2.2 innings, he allowed two runs (both earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and four walks.
The three-game series will conclude on Sunday (March 7) at 1:30 p.m.
