MACON, GA. – Georgia Southern won its fifth-straight game on Tuesday night, withstanding a late charge to defeat Mercer 11-10. Evan McDonald and Ryan Cleveland both hit home runs to post an 11-6 lead through six. Mercer tallied four in the seventh and stranded 13 runners in the game. Next up is a weekend series against Troy starting on Friday at 7 p.m. in Statesboro

QUOTABLES
HEAD COACH RODNEY HENNON
"I was happy that we got the win today, but neither team played clean today. It was one of those games where you've got to hang in there and we were fortunate to hang in there and score one more than them. We've been playing with some confidence recently but we've got a lot of work to do, we've got to clean some things up so we can get back to playing good baseball."

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Evan McDonald – Jr. – SS – Platte City, Mo.
3-for-4 | 2 Runs | 1 RBI | 1 Walk
Evan McDonald continued his tear by extending his hit streak to eight games. He is hitting .462 over that span going 12-for-26. He clubbed his first home run as a member of the Eagles in the second to give the visitors a lead which wouldn't be relinquished.

CRUCIAL MOMENTS
TOP 1st – Two hits, two walks and a balk in the first gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the opening moments of the game. Will Hudgins drove in the opening run with two outs on a single to right. Later in the inning, Jordan Wren walked for the second tally.
BOTTOM 1st – A leadoff walk came back to haunt the Eagles in the bottom of the first when Trey Truitt came around to score thanks to a fielding error and Kyle Lewis' single to third base. A sacrifice fly later in the frame tied the game at 2-2.
TOP 2nd – Evan McDonald atoned for his error in the field by skying a solo home run to left. It was the first home run for McDonald in a Georgia Southern uniform.
TOP 3rd – Georgia Southern tacked on two more in the third with RBIs from Wren and Kent Rollins to make it a 5-2 advantage.
BOTTOM 3rd – Danny Edgeworth hit a solo job to right center to bring the Georgia Southern lead to 5-3.
TOP 4th – McDonald opened the fourth with a single and the Eagles looked to play small-ball with the sac bunt by CJ Ballard. CJ Brazil worked a walk, but it was Ryan Cleveland that did the damage by crushing a three-run home run to right which landed beyond a Georgia Southern tailgate tent in the parking lot. Cleveland's third long ball of the year made it an 8-3 game.
BOTTOM 4th – Mercer cobbled together a run with a walk and a single in the fourth to get a pair of runners aboard. A two-out wild pitch moved the runners up 90 feet, but a throwing error by relief pitcher Ryan Frederick sent the run home as he tried to cut down the runner at third.
BOTTOM 5th – The Bears loaded the bases with a hit batter and two walks, but a single up the middle that took a wicked hop over Kent Rollins allowed two runs to score and denied a potential double play. The runs made it an 8-6 game.
TOP 6th – A single and two walks loaded the bases with just one out. A wild pitch allowed the first run to score, but a single through the right side by Logan Baldwin extended the lead to 11-8.
BOTTOM 7th – Adam Kelly came on for the Eagles to start the seventh and gave up a single and two walks to load the bases. A single to center was misplayed by Baldwin, allowing each runner to move up a base and slice the lead to 11-8 with two runners aboard. Kelly got a pair of outs, but a single up the middle cut the lead to 11-10.
BOTTOM 9th – Chris Brown came on in the ninth and picked up his third save of the season despite some late drama. He hit the leadoff batter, but struck out two of the final three batters to leave the tying run at third.

Notes
- A total of 16 pitches between both teams threw a combined 396 pitches in a game that lasted 3:45. Only two pitches (Lawson Humphries and Connor Simmons) lasted two full innings. The Bears had two pitchers who lasted more than an inning, but nine hurlers took part for Mercer.
- Over the Eagles current win streak, Georgia Southern has outscored opponents 47-29 while hitting .315 as a team.

Next Game
Georgia Southern opens a three-game set against Troy on Friday night at 7 p.m. Evan Challenger will get the ball to start the season's second Sun Belt series. Saturday's game is set for 7 p.m. with the Sunday finale starting at 1 p.m. Danny Reed and Kris Draper will call the action live on the Georgia Southern Sports Network.

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