Baseball Shuts Out Wofford to Take Series
3/9/2013 10:40:11 PM | Baseball
Box Score | Video: Post Game with Coach Hennon
STATESBORO, Ga. - Jason Richman threw seven shutout innings as Georgia Southern defeated Wofford 3-0 to win their first Southern Conference series of the year on Saturday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Richman (3-1) allowed just three hits and three walks to earn his third win of the season. The freshman lefthander struck out five batters, including two in his final inning to strand a runner at second base. Richman combined with relievers Matt McCall and Justin Hess to post the Eagles' first shutout since the Southern Conference Championship win over Samford on May 29, 2011.
Hess (S, 1) threw 1.1 innings and worked around a two-out double in the ninth inning to record his first career save. The senior righthander struck out the side in the ninth inning and left two runners stranded in the eight after coaxing a ground out from Matthew Ramsay.
“This is the position you want to be in going into Sunday,” Head Coach Rodney Hennon said. “We got strong pitching today. Jason Richman gave us a great effort, and we got some good help out of the bullpen.”
Georgia Southern (8-6, 2-0) scored three runs off 12 hits. Robbie Dodds led the team with three hits and scored two runs. Arthur Owens and Tyler Avera recorded two hits each, and Avera drove in two of the team's three runs. Josh Hyman and Matthew Pelt led Wofford (7-8, 0-2) with two hits each.
“In both these ballgames we have had some big at-bats from some guys down at the bottom,” Hennon said. “Tyler picked us up today with a couple big hits.”
Jesse Morris (3-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season after giving up three runs on 10 hits. Morris tossed six innings and struck out three batters in a quality start. Morris allowed a single run in the second inning and two more in the fourth.
The Eagles tallied four-straight singles in the second inning to score the game's first run. Dodds singled with one out and scored from third base on a base hit from Tyler Avera.
GSU added two more runs in the fourth inning on an Owens' base hit and an Avera double. Dodds doubled down the left field line to open the fourth and scored on the single by Owens. After reaching second base on a wild pitch, Owens scored the Eagles' final run on the double by Avera.
The weekend series concludes tomorrow at 1: 30 p.m. It will be athletic trainer appreciation day at the ballpark and there will be a raffle to benefit the Georgia Southern athletic training room. Nick's inflatables will also be on hand for Junior Eagle Club members and all members can get into the game for free and run the bases after the game.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
