MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Mitchell Gross put the team on his back and pitched the first complete game of his career to lead the Georgia Southern baseball team to a 7-1 semifinals victory over the James Madison Dukes. With the victory, the Eagles will play for the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship on Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles (33-25) did not have to wait long to take to the board, as
Josh Tate took the first pitch of the game over the fence in left field to take a quick 1-0 lead.
Jarrett Brown followed that with an RBI-single to the left-center gap, scoring
Sean Smith. The first inning's final score came from a double play that
Kent Schmidt ran home on, putting the Eagles up 3-0 after one.
From the third to the sixth inning, the Eagles would score a single run in every inning to bolster the lead, starting with a
Sean White RBI-groundout in the top of the third inning to score Brown.
In the top of the fourth,
T.J. McKenzie would unleash his fourth home run of the season to straightaway center field, putting the Eagles up 5-0. Brown would continue his offensive outburst in the top of the fifth inning with a homer of his own, taking a 6-0 lead into the sixth inning.
In the top of the sixth, McKenzie would score his second run of the game off of a Tate sacrifice fly to put the Eagles up 7-0. James Madison (34-23) would score an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth on a groundout, but that would be the only run the Dukes put up in the contest.
Mitchell Gross was nothing short of phenomenal in the contest, pitching all nine innings of the game. Gross gave up a single unearned run on six hits, sitting down five on 118 pitches.
Tate and Brown both went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Brown had two runs scored while Tate had one. McKenzie also had a multi-hit night with two hits.
UP NEXT
Georgia Southern and Southern Miss will meet for the fourth time this season, fighting for the Sun Belt Conference Championship. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
