Eagles Take Down ETSU for Series-Opening Win, 8-7

Friday, February 24

Statesboro

4 PM

Georgia Southern University

3-2

ETSU

2-3

ETSU

Georgia Southern

Photo by: AJ Henderson - Georgia Southern Athletics

2/24/2023 7:04:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Jay Thompson earns his second save in tight top of the ninth inning

By: Graham Cooper

STATESBORO - The Georgia Southern baseball team stopped an ETSU rally in the top of the ninth inning to secure the series-opening win on Friday evening at J.I. Clements Stadium, 8-7.

The Eagles (3-2) quickly got on the board with thanks to a wild pitch from the ETSU (2-3) starting pitcher, quickly grabbing a 1-0 lead. Noah Ledford would help get the second run across the plate, scoring Jarrett Brown and taking a 2-0 lead at the end of the first inning. The Eagles would double the lead to 4-0 after a AJ Wenrich RBI-groundout plated Zane Faulk in the bottom of the third inning and a passed ball plated J.C. Peacher in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Buccaneers would respond with a solo homer in the top of the fifth inning to get on the board, but Faulk would launch a solo homer of his own 392 ft to left field, putting the Eagles back up by four runs, 5-1. ETSU would then score two more runs from a home run in the top of the sixth inning, and a single run from a RBI-groundout in the top of the seventh inning to set the score at 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh inning.

Peacher would score Wenrich in the bottom of the seventh inning from an RBI-single to right center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Eagles would add two more runs thanks to two errors in one play by the ETSU defense, scoring Brown, and bringing Sam Blancato home on a passed ball shortly after. In the top of the ninth inning, ETSU would score three runs from a passed ball, a sac fly, and a RBI-single, but Jay Thompson caught the runner on first and picked him off for the third out, preserving the 8-7 win and picking up his second save of the young season.

QUICK HITS

Ty Fisher earned his first win of the season, only allowing a single ETSU run to get across in his 5.0 innings of work, striking out three.
AJ Wenrich made his first collegiate start and earned his first RBI, first hit, and first stolen base all in the same game.
JD Kaiser led the Eagles offensively in his first start of his collegiate career, going 3-for-5 with a double. Other Eagles with multiple hits today were Jarrett Brown (3-for-5), Zane Faulk (2-for-5), and J.C. Peacher (2-for-4).
Georgia Southern is now 2-0 in one run games this season.

UP NEXT
The Eagles will look for its second series win of the season on Saturday, Feb. 25, against the ETSU Buccaneers. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at J.I. Clements Stadium.