Statesboro, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern baseball team (22-17, 8-9 SBC) defeated Arkansas State (18-20, 8-9 SBC) by a 6-3 margin on Friday night in Statesboro (April 18th).
To summarize, it was a masterclass on the mound from Eagles' tosser
Kade Grundy as he would throw eight scoreless frames in his career high pitches of 113. Although striking out two and allowing just six hits, the senior would mo give up a walk or free pass to any of the 28 Red Wolves he faced on the night. It was the longest scoreless outing by an Eagle since
Ty Fisher's complete game shutout in the 2022 Statesboro Regional.
Offensively, key bats woke back up for the Eagles, while others continued to stay hot. In the bottom of the second inning,
Cade Parker strode into the nex for his first at-bat of the game. Down 0-2, he would find a fastball and drill it 433 feet into left center field for his first home run since the series opener against Georgia State on March 28th, and his seventh on the season. Plus, a two-RBI double from
Daniel Haab in the third and a two-RBI single from
Sean White the following inning, would see the Eagles jump to a 5-0 lead after four complete.
In the seventh, the Eagles would load the bases from back-to-back singles from
Bryson Trammell and Parker, but would only come away with one run to show for it off the bat of
Luke Odden.
Arkansas State would not go down easily, however, as after Grundy did not return for the ninth, the Red Wolves would mash a two-out, three-run homer to halve the lead. However, a pop out one pitch later would close the door and give the Eagles a victory to halt their three-game losing streak.
On the night, the two Seans would have a trio of hits on the contest, as White would finish with two RBIs while
Sean Smith would have another 3-3 start to the game, just like he did on Tuesday. Additionally,
Cade Parker would have his first multi-hit contest since that same date of March 28th, where he went 3-4.
The series deciding finale is set for tomorrow at 2 PM at J.I. Clements Stadium as fans can celebrate Easter early with a Candyland themed game for the afternoon.
