STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern fell 6-5 to Georgia Tech in a 16-inninng home opener marathon at J.I. Clements Stadium. Landon Hughes got the nod for the first five innings, only allowing three hits and one run. Brandon Gold gave Georgia Tech the win with a three-run home run to center in the 16th.    

WORDS FROM THE SKIPPER
"I thought we had a great effort from everyone on the pitching staff," said Head Coach Rodney Hennon. "Everyone went out and competed well and I felt like, at times, we swung the bat a little better. We're going to continue to improve as we move along. The plan wasn't to play 16 innings going into a four-game series, but it's good to see what some guys can do. I thought the team went out and competed and handled themselves really well and that's going to pay dividends as we go forward. Tonight we just didn't get it done, but we have plenty of opportunities in front of us. Right now our focus is getting ready for the weekend. We need to come back out here and have a good practice tomorrow."

CRUCIAL MOMENTS
Bottom 2^nd – A sacrifice fly to centerfield by Evan McDonald gave Will Hudgens the go-ahead to score the Eagles' first run of the game.
Top 4^th – Matt Gonzales scores the first run for the Yellow Jackets with a solo homerun to left.  
Bottom 5^th – C.J. Brazil singled up the middle to bring Logan Baldwin around to score. A triple from Jordan Wren allowed Brazil to make it 3-1 to the Eagles.   
Top 9^th – Georgia Tech's Ryan Peurifoy reached on a fielding error by Kent Rollins at second base. A double to center by Matt Gonzales sent Peurifoy home to tie the game, 3-3. 
Top 16^th – Yellow Jacket's first baseman Brandon Gold hit a three-run home run to bring Georgia Tech to a 6-3 lead.
Bottom 16^th – Eagles pinch hitter Zach Cowart doubled to left field to bring in Logan Baldwin and Will Hudgens. Ballard grounded out to second base to make the third and final out of the game.

NOTES
- Zach Cowart had two RBI's this game, while Evan McDonald. C.J. Brazil and Jordan Wren each had one.
- The Eagles are now 1-1 in extra innings this season. The last game to go into extra innings was the second game of the season, a 5-3 win over Georgia on Feb. 20, 2016.
This contest is the 2^nd longest game in Georgia Southern baseball history. Eighteen innings in '96 holds the record. This is the longest game Georgia Tech baseball history.

NEXT GAME
Georgia Southern opens a four-game series against Radford Friday at 7 p.m. The Eagles play a double header against the Highlanders Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and finish the series Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans can listen live on Georgia Southern Sports Network.