STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern baseball team scored three runs late to defeat the Georgia State Panthers in the first game of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series, 4-2, on Thursday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.
 
Georgia State (23-11, 10-3 SBC) got on the board first in the top of the first inning, when a two-RBI double scored its only two runs of the night. The score would remain 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth inning, where Georgia Southern (22-11, 9-4 SBC) would bring home Jason Swan on a wild pitch, cutting the Panthers lead to only 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Eagles would take the lead on a Swan single and a throwing error from the Georgia State first baseman, scoring Blancato and Sherrill and putting the Eagles ahead for good at 3-2.
 
The Eagles would add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Austin Thompson would hit an RBI-single through the left side, bringing in pinch runner Jarrett Jenkins and bolstering the GS lead to 4-2.
 
Jay Thompson faced four batters in the top of the ninth inning, but a double play and a groundout to Sherrill would seal the game at 4-2, giving the Eagles the 1-0 advantage in the three-game series.
 
QUICK HITS

• Three of the four Eagles runs came from two separate errors.
• Ty Fisher (six) and Jay Thompson (two) combined for eight strikeouts.
• Jay Thompson made his 21^st appearance of the season, tying him for second in the nation with Wofford's Dalton Rhadans. He picked up the win by going 2 2/3 innings, only allowing two hits and striking out two.
• Tonight's win was Georgia Southern's fifth win against a Quad 1 opponent on the season.

 
UP NEXT
The Eagles will go for the series win against Georgia State on Friday, April 15, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. at J.I. Clements Stadium.