Baseball's Rally Falls Short in Series Finale
4/29/2012 10:34:00 PM | Baseball
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team started the game where they left off yesterday and combined for three runs on five hits over the first two innings but was forced to rally after finding itself down five runs after the fourth inning. The Eagles' rally attempt came up a run short and fell to The Citadel 8-7 in the series finale. The Eagles dropped their first Southern Conference series since at Furman in late March after the Bulldogs exploded for eight runs over two innings.
Neither starter made it through the third inning after both offense struck for early runs. Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.) retired the side in order in the first inning with a strikeout of Nick Orvin and a pair of fly outs. He also worked out of jam in the second inning to keep The Citadel (19-25, 9-12) scoreless while Georgia Southern (24-21, 11-10) put three runs on the board.
A two-out first inning single from Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) drove in Scooter Williams (Detroit, Ga.) from second base for the first run of the game. Back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) and Williams in the second inning scored a pair of runs to extended GSU's lead to three runs.
Georgia Southern tallied five hits in the first three innings and posted their second-straight game of double-digit hits with 15. Williams provided the first five-hit game by an Eagle since February 20, 2011 with four singles and a double. The junior outfielder went five-for-five with three runs and three RBIs on the day. Joining Williams with multi-hit games were Griffin, Tyler Avera (Baxley, Ga.) and Brent Pugh (Atlanta, Ga.).
Pugh helped spark a three run sixth inning and was the first batter to reach base with a one-out single. After a walk of Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) by reliever James Reeves, Williams tallied his lone double to plate two runs and later scored the third run on a Avera liner to center field.
Reeves (6-3) allowed all three runs in the frame but picked up the win after Ryan Hines threw a perfect ninth inning for his fifth save. Hines (5) did allow Georgia Southern to pull within a run in the eighth inning on a T.D. Davis (Evans, Ga.) RBI ground out to second base. With two runners still left in scoring position, the junior right-hander struck out Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) to end the threat.
The Citadel took a 6-3 lead in the third inning and never surrendered it. Six hits and three errors in the inning led to a six-run frame. Back-to-back throwing errors by the Eagles' defense allowed two runners to reach base to start the inning, and Joe Jackson provided a two-RBI double to plate two runs. A sacrifice fly from Bo Thompson plated a fourth run in the inning and provided the first out. An error and a two-out hit from Hughston Armstrong scored two more runs.
The Bulldogs jumped ahead 8-3 lead with two more runs in the fourth inning but went scoreless over the final four frames. Kyle Rowe (Valdosta, Ga.) and Jarret Leverett (Eatonton, Ga.) combined for four scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and one walk. Rowe retired 10-straight batters after walking in a run in the fourth inning and got the Eagles to the eighth inning before giving up a double to Orvin.
Georgia Southern returns home for the final homestand starting Wednesday with Charleston Southern. The Eagles will wrap up the 2012 home slate with a pair of SoCon series against Samford and Western Carolina.
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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