Eagles Unable to Maintain a Fifth-Inning Lead
4/18/2013 2:05:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score | Video: Post Game with Outfielder Robbie Dodds
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Kennesaw State Owls scored four runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Georgia Southern Eagles 8-3 at J.I. Clements Stadium Wednesday.
Bo Way plated the go-ahead run in the seventh inning putting Kennesaw State (20-19) on top 4-3. Andy Almonte scored the run on one of his three hits on the day. He finished with four runs scored and a RBI.
Kevin McCoy entered in the sixth inning with the Owls trailing 3-2 and retired all nine batters he faced on the day to earn his first win of the season. McCoy (1-0) struck out five batters at the plate including two in the sixth and two seventh.
Sam Howard (5-5) suffered the loss for Georgia Southern (21-16), who dropped its fifth-straight game. Howard allowed Almonte's seventh-inning run after entering in relief of Drew Johnson. He surrendered three hits and struck out Kody Belcher to leave two runners stranded in the inning.
Making his first start since March 19th at Georgia Tech, Evan Challenger allowed just two runs – one earned – over 4.2 strong innings. Challenger allowed six hits but struck out two batters on 69 pitches.
After the two teams traded runs in the third inning, the Eagles took a 2-1 lead on a solo home run by Stryker Brown. It was his first long ball of the season and the first by the team in the month of April. Robbie Dodds made it a multi-homer day with a solo shot in the fifth inning, reclaiming a 3-2 lead for GSU.
Kennesaw State started the scoring in the third inning after a fielder's choice by Bo Way scored Almonte with two outs. The Owls recorded three-straight two-out hits in the fifth inning but were held to one run after Johnson retired the first batter he faced with a fly out.
Dylan Ivey led off the inning with a walk and quickly reached third base after stealing second and reaching third on a passed ball. Ivey scored a batter later on Almonte's single. Way singled to right field to plate the second run of the inning but was left stranded after Howard recorded a fly out and a strike out.
The Owls sent all nine batters to the plate in the ninth inning and scored four runs on three hits. Almonte started the inning with a single and scored the first run of the inning on a Max Pentecost base hit. Kody Belcher followed with a RBI single before Alex Liquori walked with the bases loaded. Belcher later scored on a wild pitch.
Baseball travels to Western Carolina for a three-game weekend series against the Catamounts. The series opens with a 5 p.m. first pitch on Friday and continues with a 4 p.m. game on Saturday and 1 p.m. contest on Sunday. All three games can be heard on the Georgia Southern Radio Network and online at gseagles.com/watch-listen.
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.
