Eagles Improve to 10-2 with Doubleheader Sweep

Sunday, March 2

Statesboro, GA

1:30 pm

Georgia Southern University

9-2

Southern Illinois Edwardsville

2-8

SIUE

Georgia Southern

3/2/2014 8:38:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Hennon Interview | Full Video Replay SIUE | Full Video Replay Ohio

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern baseball team picked up a pair of wins against Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Ohio to improve to 10-2 on the year, their best start since the 2009 NCAA Regional team.

The Eagles defeated SIUE 8-2 in the first game and hit six home runs in a 20-5 victory over Ohio.

"It was a good team effort all day long," Head Coach Rodney Hennon said. When you have to play a doubleheader you are going to need contributions from a lot of different guys. We were able to get that today both from the pitching staff and from our position players."

GSU tallied 28 hits and scored 28 runs combined between the two games. Aaron Mizell hit three home runs on the day and now has five on the season.

Game One vs SIUE

For the second-straight day, the Georgia Southern Eagles rallied from a deficit and defeated Southern Illinois Edwardsville 8-2 in game one of the day at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Chase Griffin put Georgia Southern on the scoreboard and tied the game with a two-run homer in the fourth inning. The Eagles took a 4-2 lead later in that inning after Stryker Brown and Garrett Chapman tallied RBI hits.

Matt McCall picked up his first win of the season in relief of the starter Ryan Frederick. McCall (1-0) threw 3.1 scoreless frames and struck out five batters while allowing four hits.

Caleb Wilkerson held GSU scoreless over the first three innings but was unable to record an out in the fourth inning. Five-straight Eagles recorded a hit to open the frame before Wilkerson (0-1) was lifted. Zach Malach came on to strike out the side, but Wilkerson took the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits.

Frederick pitched into the fourth inning but exited after allowing two hits to start the frame. Both runs eventually scored on an Austin Verschoore two-out single. Jason Richman and Will Jackson combined with McCall to hold Southern Illinois Edwardsville (2-8) scoreless over the final five frames.

Dalton Busby stole second base and scored a run in the fifth inning after the Cougars' defense committed two errors. The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning on a fielding error and a sac fly from C.J. Brazil.

The Eagles finished with double digit hits for the eighth time this season. Chapman went three for four with two RBI on the day to extend his hit streak to 11 games. Aaron Mizell, who hit a solo shot in the seventh, and Brown each recorded two hits.

Game Two vs Ohio

Four different Eagles combined to hit six home runs as the Georgia Southern Eagles outscored Ohio 20-5 in the second game of the day at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Georgia Southern (10-2) scored 20 runs for the second time this season and tallied 18 hits. Dalton Busby, Aaron Mizell and Kody Adams all finished with three hits, while Mizell, Ryan Cleveland, Adams and Ben Morgan all homered in the victory.

Three of those six home runs came in the first inning as Mizell, Cleveland and Kody Adams gave the Eagles an early 5-0 lead. GSU tacked on another run on a sacrifice fly from Dalton Busby and led 6-0 after the second inning.

"We took some good swings early," Hennon said. "Mizell's home run in the first inning gave us some momentum. It was also good to see Ryan Cleveland swinging the bat with confidence again. He had been pressing a little bit."

Jason Richman picked up the win in relief of starter Will Middour and allowed one run over 2.1 innings. Richman (3-0) got the Eagles out of a jam in the fourth inning by striking out Scott White.

Making his first start since May 26, 2012, Middour held Ohio (3-6) scoreless over the first three innings before giving up three runs in the fourth. Nick Bredeson put the Bobcats on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly, and Connor Callery chased Middour with a two RBI single.

The Eagles scored 13 combined runs over the middle three innings and took a 19-4 lead after the sixth. Cleveland and Morgan both hit home runs in the fifth inning. Mizell hit his second of the game and third of the day in the sixth, and Cleveland stole home plate later in the frame.

Gerry Salisbury took the loss in his first start of the season. Salisbury (0-2) surrendered 10 runs – nine earned – on 11 hits.

Baseball travels to Mount Pleasant, S.C. on Wednesday to face former SoCon rival College of Charleston at 6 p.m. before returning home to host Holy Cross in a three-game series this weekend.

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.

Notes: Garrett Chapman extended his hit streak to 12 games... Dalton Busby extended his reached base streak to 10 games... Stryker Brown's nine game hit streak came to an end against Ohio... With 3.1 scoreless innings, Matt McCall has now thrown 10.2 scoreless frames to start the year... GSU has now recorded 10 or more hits in nine games this season... The Eagles now have a sac fly in all but two games this season.