Garren Palmer Hits First Career Home Run in Midweek Loss to Mercer
4/7/2011 2:57:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Garren Palmer (Dalton, Ga.) hit his first career home run in a midweek loss to Mercer (22-10), but Georgia Southern (18-12) fell 14-1 on Wednesday night. The Eagles got behind early and were being no hit by Brandon Barker before a base hit in the fifth inning by Palmer. The redshirt-freshman drove in the only GSU run in his next at-bat with a solo shot to left field.
Georgia Southern finished the game with eight hits and had three players record multi-hit games. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) singled in the sixth and ninth innings. Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.), who caught the final three innings of the game, reached base in all four plate appearances. He singled in the sixth inning and doubled in the eighth.
Both starters faced the minimum in the first inning after Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) made a pair of fine head-first diving plays in the outfield to rob the Bears of a couple of base hits. Mercer started its scoring in the second inning, tacking six runs on the board before adding a single run in the third inning. The Bears went in order in the fourth inning but scored six runs over fifth and sixth innings. They rounded out their scoring with a solo homer by Thomas Carroll in the eighth inning.
Drew Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.) made his first start on the mound for Georgia Southern, but lasted only an inning and a third. He allowed four earned runs on four hits and was tagged with the loss (0-1). Joe Lower (West Palm Beach, Fla.) came on in relief and allowed only two unearned runs in 2.1 innings. Lower struck out two batters and allowed only three hits. Chris Myers (Gainesville, Fla.) rounded out the pitching with a scoreless ninth inning.
Barker (3-0) earned his third win of the season after allowing one hit in five innings. He struck out four batters on 79 pitches. Jacob Matthews threw a scoreless inning in the sixth before Colby Collins allowed the home run to Palmer in the seventh. D.J. Johnson and J.T. Odom rounded out the game for Mercer, allowing three hits combined over two innings.
The Eagles will make their longest road trip of the season this weekend when they venture out to Beckley, W.Va. to face Marshall at Epling Stadium. The three-game series opens Friday night at 6:05 p.m. and continues Saturday at 6:05 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
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.
