Baseball Tallies Late Runs to Sweep Doubleheader
5/14/2011 5:54:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern (29-21, 16-10) scored a combined 10 runs in its final three frames at the plate to complete a sweep of a weather-delayed doubleheader on Friday, May 13th, at J.I. Clements Stadium. The starting pitchers in both contests set the tone for the Eagles with quality starts on the mound and the bats put the game away after taking leads in the sixth inning of both games. GSU honored its three seniors, Steve Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.), Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) before the start of game of two.
Game One - Georgia Southern 7 vs Davidson 4
Georgia Southern came from behind to defeat Davidson 7-4 in game one of the three-game Southern Conference series. After five scoreless innings, home runs by both squads broke open the shutout in the sixth inning, but the Eagles scored seven runs over their final three frames to take a 7-2 lead. The Wildcats got two runs back in the ninth inning before Matt Murray (Spring City, Pa.) closed the door in the ninth inning.
Both pitchers tossed quality starts and were on track for a pitchers' dual before both gave up home runs in the sixth. Davidson struck first with a two-run homer with two outs in the inning. A three-run long ball by Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) in the bottom half of the inning put GSU on top 3-2. The Eagles kept the one-out rally going with an unearned run scoring on a sacrifice fly from Tom Richardson (Lilburn, Ga.) for a 4-2 lead.
Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) earned his second win in his last five decisions after the offense took the lead in the sixth inning. Beck (W, 7-3) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out seven over six innings of work. He worked out of a number of jams over his scoreless five frames, leaving five Davidson runners in scoring position.
Chris Lamb pitched well in his start for the Wildcats and set himself up to pitch deep in the contest with a low pitch count before he ran into trouble in the sixth inning. Lamb (L, 1-7) gave up three earned runs on five hits over six innings.
Murray (S, 8) retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth innings but gave up two runs in the ninth inning before closing out the game for the save. The junior struck out four batters, but allowed two runs on three hits.
A RBI ground out in the seventh inning by Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) tacked on a single run to extended the lead to 5-2. Georgia Southern scored the run without a hit with a hit batter, a walk and three stolen bases.
The Eagles added two insurance runs on a pair of leadoff walks in the eighth inning. A double by Brent Pugh (Atlanta, Ga.) and a bunt single from Williams drove across the two runs. Davidson got both runs back in the ninth after a pair of leadoff singles scored on a RBI-double from Forrest Brandt and a sacrifice fly from Drew Gadaire.
Game Two - Georgia Southern 5 vs Davidson 2
Georgia Southern broke open a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning and shut down the Wildcats over the final three frames for a 5-2 win in game two of the doubleheader. The contest was delayed in the top of the second inning, when it was tied at 0-0, for 2:33 and ended after midnight.
Moye, who faced the minimum in the first inning, returned following the delay and worked out of a bases0loaded jam in the second inning. He went on to retire nine-straight batters before allowing a two-out walk in the fifth inning. A two-run homer off the bat of Davidson's Danny Weis tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning after the Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Moye (W, 6-1) allowed just the two runs on three hits and struck out eight batters over six innings.
The Georgia Southern offense broke open the 2-2 tie in the bottom half of the sixth to hand the senior pitcher the victory. A pair of one-out walks came around to score on a slow-bouncing single up the middle off the bat of Williams and a throwing error by the centerfielder. Seth Freeman attempted to get the lead runner at third base after the first run in the inning had scored, but his throw sailed to the fence in foul territory allowing Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) to score an unearned run for the 4-2 lead.
The Eagles added a single run in the seventh inning and the bullpen shut the door with three scoreless innings to preserve the victory. Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.) pitched the final 2.2 innings and struck out the first six batters he faced before issuing a pair of walks in the ninth inning. Middour (S, 1) earned his first career save after inducing a two popups near the first base bag to end the ninth inning.
Ian Horkley pitched well over the first four frames, but allowed two runs in the fifth inning on a two-out double from Roache. The Eagles started the two-out rally with a walk by Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) and a base hit from Payne. Horkley left with a no decision after the Wildcats tied the game in the top of the sixth. Andy Bass was tagged with the loss after giving up the two Eagle runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bass (L, 2-3) allowed two runs, one earned, on a hit and two walks in an inning of work.
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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