Hennon Interview | Rollins Interview | Simmons Interview
STATESBORO, Ga. – Kent Rollins drove in six runs to help power the Georgia Southern Eagles to a 15-2 win and series victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers at J.I. Clements Stadium on Sunday.
Georgia Southern (5-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on
Aaron Mizell's first home run of the 2015 campaign and never looked back. The Eagles extended their lead to 5-1 in the fourth inning before scoring 10 runs combined in the sixth and seventh innings.
"We tried to put yesterday behind us and come back out and play better baseball in all phases," Head Coach
Rodney Hennon said. "We got a good effort from
Connor Simmons, and I thought Mizell's home run that gave him the early lead was big. Overall we played a complete game for all nine innings."
Rollins, making his first start as an Eagle, finished a double shy of the cycle and broke the game open with a bases-clearing triple in the sixth inning. An at-bat later Rollins plated three runs with his first home run of the season.
Simmons (1-0) held West Virginia (3-3) to two runs on four hits. The freshman lefthander struck out three batters and walked three over five innings for his first career win.
"He did a nice job throwing strikes," Hennon said about his freshman lefthander. "I thought he responded well after giving up the first home run. He continued to run the ball in there for strikes and let his defense work."
Chad Donato was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs – two earned – on six hits. Donato (1-1) tossed four innings and struck out two batters.
GS tallied 10 plus hits for the fourth time in seven games this season. Hudgins tallied two hits to extend his career-opening hit streak to seven games, while
Dalton Busby plated two runs with sac flies, walked, doubled and scored twice.
The Mountaineers scored both runs on a pair of solo home runs by Taylor Munden and Jackson Cramer.
The Eagles wrap up a season-opening eight game homestand Tuesday against The Citadel. First pitch in the first of two mid-week games is set for 6 p.m.
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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or visit GSEagles.com.
