STATESBORO - The Georgia Southern baseball team dropped a 10-7 contest in a Sun Belt Conference series opener to App State on Friday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.

The Mountaineers (17-14, 7-5 SBC) scored four runs in the top of the first inning before the Eagles (16-18, 6-7 SBC) could hit the bat racks. In the bottom of the first inning, Jesse Sherrill got on base with a lead off single to center field, and Jarrett Brown promptly plated Sherrill with a RBI-double down the left field line. App State would add another run in the top of the third inning on a sac fly and two more in the top of the fifth inning with a two-run home run down the left field line, leading by 7-1 after five frames.

Georgia Southern started to rally in the bottom of the seventh inning when App State walked the Eagles on six different at-bats, scoring two runs by Cameron Crosby and Sam Blancato before Corey Dowdell's two-RBI single through the left side scored Sherrill and Brown, narrowing the gap at 7-5. However, the Mountaineers scored three more runs in the top of the eighth inning to respond and take a 10-5 lead. The Eagles continued to rally in the bottom of the eighth inning with a Zane Faulk RBI-double that plated Crosby, and a Sherrill sac fly that scored Kyler Hultgren to cut the deficit to three runs at 10-7. Neither team scored in the ninth inning, earning App State the series-opening victory.

UP NEXT
The Eagles will look to even the series on Saturday, April 15. First pitch from J.I. Clements Stadium is set for 2 p.m.