Hennon Interview | Thomas & Challenger Interview

STATESBORO, Ga. – Evan Challenger held the UT Arlington Mavericks scoreless for seven innings as the Georgia Southern Eagles took the Sun Belt Conference series opener with a 6-1 win at J.I. Clements Stadium.

The Eagles (20-15, 10-6) backed Challenger's superb effort with two runs over the first four innings, and Hunter Thomas added his seventh home run of the season in the fifth inning.

"It is always good to get the first win (in the series). Evan Challenger has been doing a good job on Friday nights and was outstanding tonight," Head Coach Rodney Hennon said. "We played pretty solid defense behind him and did enough offensively to put the game away."

Cody Lanford plated an infield single from Ryan Cleveland in the second inning to score the first run of the game. 

After Chad Nack stranded two runners in scoring position with a pair of strikeouts in the third inning, Logan Baldwin drove in a run in the fourth inning with a sacrifice bunt to put GS up 2-0.

Nack (2-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs – four earned - over six innings. The righthander allowed 13 hits and struck out a career best eight batters.

Matt McLean led off the game with a single through the left side, but Challenger retired him on a fielder's choice and went on to eight-straight batters over the first three innings. 

Challenger (4-0) struck out two batters in the second, third and fifth innings and limited the Mavericks (14-17, 5-8) to two hits over the first five frames to earn the victory.

"Challenger really got into a good rhythm tonight. The few times they had runners in scoring position, he made some big pitches," Hennon said.

UTA got on the scoreboard with three hits including a RBI single from Levi Scott in the eighth inning.

The series continues tomorrow with a 2 p.m. first pitch. Senior Tripp Sheppard (3-2, 3.03 ERA) will get the call for the Eagles and will face lefthander Chad Vassar (2-2, 2.19 ERA). The Eagles will also shave their head after the contest in support of the Vs. Cancer Fundraiser.

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