Eagles Take First Conference Series with Furman in Blowout Fashion
3/13/2011 12:13:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern (10-5, 2-0) takes the series in blowout fashion with an 11-1 victory over Furman (6-10, 1-3) on Jack Stallings Day. Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) sent one out of the park for the second-straight game and plated four runs. All nine starters recorded base hits for the Eagles and belted 20 hits to score the 11 runs. In another all-around team effort, Josh Adams (Bath, S.C.) threw nearly six innings, scattering five hits and one run for his fourth win of the season.
Adams, who paces the staff in the win category with four, earned his second win this week after defeating #1 Florida in relief on Tuesday. Joe Lower (West Palm Beach, Fla.) pitched the final 3.1 innings in relief and earned the save the long way. Lower, just the second relief pitcher used by GSU in the series, allowed only one hit and no runs while striking out two of the 13 batters he faced.
The top-four hitters in Georgia Southern's batting order tallied multiple hits and the top-three hitters each scored multiple runs. Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) extended his reached-base streak to 44 games after doubling in the third inning. Payne finished with two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.) followed with three runs and three hits, while Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) singled four times and scored three runs.
Furman opened the game with a run in the first inning, taking the early lead. Will Owens walked to lead off the inning and a sacrifice bunt by Aaron Thompkins moved him to second base. A two-out double by Will Miller scored the first run of the game.
The Paladins held onto their advantage until the bottom of the third inning when Georgia Southern took a 5-1 lead. Four different Eagles plated runs in the third and the inning was capped off by Moye's two-run homer, his second of the season. Georgia Southern batted around in the fourth inning, scoring four runs to blow open the contest.
The Eagles tallied four singles around a sacrifice bunt by Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) to score the first two runs in the inning. Moye plated the final two runs in the fourth with a two-RBI single up the middle. Georgia Southern added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to get to the final score of 11-1.
Nate Smith was tagged with his third loss of the season after lasting only 3.1 innings. Smith allowed nine runs on 11 hits but walked only one batter. Matt Plate threw 2.2 innings and allowed one run on five hits before being relived by Brant Masters in the eighth inning. Master closed out the game, allowing one run on four hits and recording a strike out.
Georgia Southern wraps up the first conference series of the year at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at J.I. Clements Stadium, before hitting the road for five-straight road games. The Eagles will travel to Georgia Tech and Samford before returning home to face Kennesaw State in a single game on March 22nd.
To order baseball tickets for upcoming games call the Georgia Southern Athletic Ticket Office at 800-GSU-WINS. Single games tickets are available at the gate for $8 for adults and $4 for youth (3-12).
All games can be heard on Eagle 102.9 FM in Statesboro and are also available online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch. Ryan Chambers of the Georgia Southern Radio Network will call all the action.
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