STATESBORO, Ga. - After dropping the series opener and scoring just one run in the 5-1 loss, the Georgia Southern Baseball team rallied to take the three-game series from #27 Appalachian State with a 7-6 win on Sunday. The Eagles' offense provided a big lift with 20 runs and 26 hits in the final two games of the series.
Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.) retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts to open the game for Georgia Southern (22-16, 10-8), and Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) struck for three runs in the first inning on a long home run to give the Eagles the early lead. The freshman tallied his 10th home run of the season off the batter's eye in center field and drove in a lead off walk of Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) and a base hit by Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.).
Georgia Southern kept scoring and broke open a 4-2 game with a three-run seventh inning off of reliever David Port. Tyler Avera (Baxley, Ga.) provided the big hit with a two-RBI double down into the right field corner. T.D. Davis (Evans, Ga.) started the two-out rally with a base hit, and Stryker Brown (Dalton, Ga.) followed in the next at-bat with a RBI single.
Appalachian State (25-9, 10-5) was determined to not let the Eagles run away with the series and rallied from the five-run deficit to come within a run of tying the game in the ninth inning. Kyle Rowe (Valdosta, Ga.) faced 12 batters in the final two innings and gave up four runs on five hits.
Daniel Kassouf provided the big blow in the eighth inning with a three-run home run. Rowe retired four-straight batters following the big fly, including the first two in the ninth inning, before allowing three-straight hits and a run on Tyler Zupcic's double.
The Eagles got a good start from Middour, who was perfect his first time through the order, but he lasted just four innings. Will Callaway tallied the first hit for Appalachian State in the fourth inning on a bouncing ball through the right side of the infield, snapping a streak of 11-straight batters retired. Middour struggled after allowing the first hit of the game and gave up two runs on back-to-back doubles to Daniel Kassouf and Tyler Tewell.
Drew Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of the right-hander. Johnson (1-1) worked around Middour's lead off walk and stranded the runner at second base with a pair of fly outs. The junior left-hander did not allow a hit and picked up his first win of his career.
Rob Marcello (1-3) made the start for the Mountaineers and settled down after allowing the first inning runs. He kept the Eagles off the board for the next four innings and struck out Williams to strand two runners in scoring position in the fourth inning. The left-hander was pulled after allowing a lead off single to Brown and gave up his fourth run of the game after Brent Pugh (Atlanta, Ga.) tallied a RBI single to left field.
The Eagles are on the road for the rest of April and will start a seven-game road trip at Florida on Tuesday.
All baseball games this season can be heard on the Boomer 103.7 FM and inside J.I. Clements Stadium on 88.1 FM. Audio for all games is also available on the web and subscription video is available for all home games at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision.
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