BOONE, N.C. – Georgia Southern Baseball announced its presence with authority, taking a 13-3 win over Appalachian State to kick off Sun Belt Conference play and the three-game weekend series. Hunter Thomas' second inning grand slam put the Eagles ahead for good as the senior made his season debut, missing the opening 13 games due to injury. The Eagles and Mountaineers will wrap-up the three-game set on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

QUOTABLES
HEAD COACH RODNEY HENNON
"I thought we swung the bats well today. Obviously Hunter Thomas gave us a big boost, his grand slam really got us going today. I thought it was important to come back and answer in the second inning after giving up a run in the first. I thought (Evan) Challenger did a good job of pitching with the lead. Our guys did a good job of staying focused and playing pitch-to-pitch. We've got to come back and be focused to play our best baseball in the two games tomorrow."

Player of the Game
Hunter Thomas // DH // Sr. // Johns Creek, Ga.
1-FOR-3 // HR // 5 RBI // 1 BB
Hunter Thomas returned to the Eagles lineup in a big way after missing the opening 13 games of the season. He crushed a grand slam to right in the second inning as part of a six-run frame. He worked a bases loaded walk in the fifth as the Eagles posted the 13-1 win. Thomas also extended his hit streak from last year to six games with the grand slam.

Scoring Recap
Bottom 1st – Tanner Mann-Fix got a leadoff single for the Mountaineers and reached second thanks to a sacrifice bunt. A balk against Evan Challenger moved the runner to third, only to score on an infield ground out.
Top 2nd – Georgia Southern opened a can of two-out lightning in the second, scoring six runs off three hits and batting around for the first time this season. Evan McDonald drove in one with an RBI single, while another scored when CJ Ballard reached on an error. CJ Brazil was hit for the fifth time this season to load the bases for Hunter Thomas. The senior dinged the ball off the scoreboard in right center for a grand slam and a 6-1 lead for the Eagles.
Top 4th – Brazil laced a single to left with runners in scoring position to plate two and extend the lead to 8-1.
Top 5th – An error, hit batter and a single loaded the bases for McDonald who drove in two more with one out. Later in the inning, Brazil was hit for the second time to lead the bases for Thomas who walked and extended the lead to 11-1.
Bottom 9th – Chandler Newman came in for Challenger to open the ninth and allowed three-straight walks to load the bases. A dropped fly ball in right and a ground out to third plated two runs as the Mountaineers cut the final margin to 13-3.

Notes
- Hunter Thomas' grand slam was the first of his career. The last slam for the Eagles was on 3/25/15 when Ryan Cleveland hit one against Jacksonville. It was also the 12th home run of his career.
- Georgia Southern's six run second inning was the highest scoring frame this year.
- Evan Challenger matched his career-high by working eight innings on Friday night. He allowed just three hits and the one run in the first inning en route to his third win of the season. The redshirt junior also tallied five walks in the outing.
- Evan McDonald delivered his first multi-hit game on Friday. CJ Ballard and Will Hudgins each had multiple hits in the starting nine.
- Overall, the Eagles tallied 13 hits, one off a season high, with all nine of the starters pitching in at least one hit.

Next Game
Georgia Southern and Appalachian State will close out their three-game weekend series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The change to the schedule was facilitated by a dreary forecast for Sunday in the High Country. The Georgia Southern Sports Network will provide live coverage of the games starting at 12:30 p.m.

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