Baseball Takes Series on Victor Roache's Career Day
4/2/2011 11:08:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) hit one home run shy of the school record of four to power Georgia Southern (17-11, 8-3) to its first series win over The Citadel (10-17, 5-9) since 2008 with a 15-2 victory on Saturday. More than 2,000 fans were in an attendance and saw Roache move into the Southern Conference lead with 10 homers on the year.
Roache had a pair of two-run home runs and a double in his first three at-bats and launched a second two-run bomb in his fourth at-bat. The sophomore outfielder became the first player since Matt Easterday in 2000 to hit three bombs in a game. The 2000 Southern Conference Player of the Year hit three on February 25th of that season against East Tennessee State. The school record for home runs in a game was set in 1999 by Dustin Langley, who hit four in a contest with Appalachian State on March 6 of that year.
GSU knocked out 21 hits and took advantage of three Bulldog errors to score its 15 runs. Seven Eagles recorded multi-hit games, including four hits from Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.), Roache and three from Steve Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.).
The Eagles got out to an early start with four runs in the first inning and added three more in the second. After a scoreless third inning for both teams, Georgia Southern pushed seven runs across the plate over the middle three innings. GSU wrapped up its offensive output with a single run in the eighth inning.
The Citadel scored single runs in the second and fourth innings. The leadoff batter reached in both innings and came around to score on a pair of sacrifice flies. Justin Mackert led off the second inning with a base hit and scored on the first out of the inning, a sac fly by Joe Jackson. William Ladd led off the fourth with a single to left center and crossed the plate on a fly ball hit by Tyler Griffin.
Josh Adams (Bath, S.C.) struggled at times, but pitched well enough for Georgia Southern, earning his team-leading fifth win of the season. Adams allowed just two runs on five hits and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning.
Austin Pritcher dropped to 3-3 on the season after being unable to get out of the second inning. Pritcher allowed six earned runs on seven hits and struck out three batters. David Leeth saved The Citadel bullpen after a four-inning outing to close out the contest. Leeth allowed only two earned runs on eight hits and faced 22 batters over the final four frames.
The series wraps up on Sunday with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch. Recently retired Georgia Southern Ticket Manager, Kay Shuman, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game. Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.), who is 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA, is scheduled to pitch tomorrow for Georgia Southern, while The Citadel will counter with Justin Russell (1-2, 6.00 ERA).
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).
Georgia Southern Baseball games can be heard live on Eagle 102.9 FM and are also available online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision with broadcasts beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch. Ryan Chambers of the Georgia Southern Radio Network will call all the action.
Fans may follow Georgia Southern Baseball by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/baseball or check in at twitter.com/GSAthletics or facebook.com/GSAthletics for short updates.
