Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Georgia Southern University Athletics

Georgia Southern outfielder T.J. McKenzie hits a ball during an NCAA baseball game.
AJ Henderson - Georgia Southern Athletics
1
Radford RAD 5-7
7
Winner Georgia Southern GS 6-8
Radford RAD
5-7
1
Final
7
Georgia Southern GS
6-8
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 1
Georgia Southern GS 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 X 7 9 0

W: Smith, Davis (2-2) L: STEINHAUS, Andrew (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Graham Cooper

Eagles Pour It on Late to Win Series Over Radford, 7-1

Six two-out runs in the bottom of the eighth prove to be the difference

STATESBORO - RBI-knocks from Sean Smith, Sean White, Jarrett Jenkins, along with the punctuation point of a T.J. McKenzie three-run home run pulled the Eagles away from Radford on Saturday night at J.I. Clements Stadium, 7-1, to win the series over the Highlanders.

The match was a pitchers duel for the first six innings of play, as Georgia Southern (6-8) southpaw Mitchell Gross and Radford (5-7) righty Dylan Howard were able to match up well, as both pitched six innings of shutout ball. Gross only gave up one single through 84 pitches while fanning six Highlander batters, while Howard gave up two hits, a single and a double, while sitting down four over 77 pitches.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Eagles struck first when Jarrett Jenkins hit a ball through the left side of the infield, scoring pinch runner Rhett Hammontree and putting the Eagles up with a late 1-0 lead.

Radford answered in the top of the eighth inning when a wild pitch was able to score Cameron Pittman, tying the game up at one-all. Zack Whitacre stole third base to put the go-ahead run 90 feet away, but Davis Smith induced a fly-out to left field to get out of the inning tied.

The Eagles strung together a series of hits late in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a commanding lead. After a Josh Tate lead-off single, Sam Blancato's sac bunt and Kent Schmidt's ground-out brought Tate to third with two outs. Sean Smith's RBI-single scored Tate to break the tie, followed by Sean White's RBI-double, sending Smith home and giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead. Pinch hitter Jonathan Jaime was hit by a pitch, then Jenkins had his second hit of the night, an RBI-double, to score White and put the lead at 4-1. T.J. McKenzie capped off the scoring with his first hit for the Blue and White, a 389ft home run to left-center field, scoring Daniel Haab and Jenkins, to take a commanding 7-1 lead after the eighth frame. 

Joey White closed out the game to seal the victory, going three-up, three-down with a ground-out, fly-out, and struck out the final batter on a 3-2 count to cement the victory for Southern.

UP NEXT
Georgia Southern goes for its first sweep of the season in the finale against Radford. Action starts at 1 p.m. at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Print Friendly Version