STATESBORO - The Georgia Southern baseball team dropped a hard-fought 5-1 game to UCF Friday night at J.I. Clements Stadium in the opening game of a three-game non-conference set.

The Eagles got on the board first in the opening inning when Christian Avant scored on an RBI groundout from Noah Ledford. The Knights would score five unanswered runs over the next six innings, coming on just five hits, to pull away late.

Ty Fisher was a spark plug on the mound for the Eagles, going three innings with five strikeouts against just two hits. In all, the five Georgia Southern pitchers allowed just seven hits and one earned run. Four different Southern players picked up hits. Jesse Sherrill drew two walks and stole a base.

GS SCORING PLAYS
B1: N. Ledford grounded out to ss, RBI (3-1); W. Patota advanced to third; C. Avant scored.

The two teams will be back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m.