CHARLESTON, S.C. – Drew Ellis hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to rally The Citadel Bulldogs to a 4-3 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.
Georgia Southern (12-10) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning after
Aaron Mizell lifted his fourth home run of the season over the batter's eye in center field.
The Citadel (11-7) answered with two runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Austin Mapes and Stephen Windham both had RBI singles in the frame.
The Bulldogs tied the contest in the fifth inning on a two-out base hit by Connor Walsh, and Ellis hit his third home run of the year in the sixth inning to give The Citadel their first lead of the game.
Facing closer Sylar Hunter in the ninth inning,
Chase Griffin hit a ground-rule double over the fence in left field.
Hunter Thomas quickly ground out to move Griffin to third base but a pair of strikeouts by Hunter ended the game.
Hunter (8) picked up his eighth save of the season and allowed a hit and a walk in his one inning of work.
Ross White picked up the win in relief of the starter Austin Mason. White (2-0) faced four batters in the sixth inning and allowed an infield single to
Logan Baldwin.
Mason settled in after allowing three runs in the first inning and held the Eagles scoreless over the next four innings.
Eagle starter
Patrick Riley surrendered two runs on four hits in the first inning.
Byron Yelverton tossed 2.1 scoreless frames out of the bullpen and struck out a batter.
The Eagles return home to host Arkansas State this weekend. The Sun Belt Conference series will be Education Day. All Georgia Southern faculty and staff as well as Bulloch County teachers, staff and students can purchase $5 game tickets.
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.