BOX SCORE

STATESBORO - Georgia Southern Baseball took a 2-0 win over Appalachian State on Friday night to open a three game series with the Mountaineers. Brian Eichhorn tossed eight innings with 10 strikeouts to improve to 2-0 on the season. The Eagles and Mountaineers close the series with a Saturday twi-night doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.

Fans who show their ticket stub from Saturday's softball doubleheader against ULM will get free admission to both games at J.I. Clements Stadium. Please go to GSEagles.com/Tickets for additional information, as well as to purchase tickets.

The Eagles posted their first shutout of the season as they opened a series that was moved to Statesboro due to a showy forecast in Boone. Chase Cohen earned his fifth save of the season by working an 11 pitch ninth inning that saw two strikeouts.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rodney Hennon
"We got outstanding pitching tonight from Brian Eichhorn. He gave us a tremendous effort, but it was a well-pitched game on both sides. Brian did everything that you want your Friday night guy to do, and Chase (Cohen) did a nice job closing it out. I thought we made a couple of big plays defensively, the diving play at third and the double play, and we were very fortunate to come out on top."

SCORING INNINGS
Bottom 2nd - Georgia Southern took an early 1-0 lead thanks to aggressive baserunning in the second frame. Mitchell Golden singled with two outs and stole second base. A wide throw allowed him to reach third, while a walk to Avant put runners on the corners. Avant broke for second before the pitch and drew a throw, he was hung up for long enough that Golden scored to make it a 1-0 lead for the good guys.
Bottom 6th - A leadoff walk in the sixth inning set the table for the Eagles to double the advantage. Steven Curry moved up to second on a wild pitch, allowing Mason McWhorter to double to the gap in left, plating Curry and extending the lead to 2-0.

NOTES
- Brian Eichhorn improved to 2-0 with his fifth quality start in six Friday night outings. The junior scattered three hits while fanning a season-high 10 batters. He tossed a season-high 119 pitches and walked just one batter.
- Chase Cohen converted his fifth save of the season with a clean ninth inning. He struck out two batters and threw 11 pitches to close out Georgia Southern's first shutout of the season.
- The shutout is Georgia Southern's first since May 10, 2017 when the Eagles blanked Kennesaw State. Brian Eichhorn went the distance that day for the Eagles in the win.

NEXT GAME
Georgia Southern will wrap-up the weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles and Mountaineers will face-off at 4 p.m. due to a poor forecast on Sunday. All seats are general admission for Saturday and fans can get in to the doubleheader by showing their ticket stub from Eagle Softball's doubleheader against ULM.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.