By Ethan Smith, Sports Editor
sports.inkwell1@gmail.com
Feb 18th
The Eagles traveled to Athens to start their 2018 baseball campaign against the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Eagles picked up a win but lost twice in three games.
The Eagles held an early lead on opening day against the Bulldogs, leading 8-7 after five innings, but the game sadly went downhill from there. The Bulldogs scored 15 of their 22 runs in the final three innings of the game, outscoring the Eagles 15-2 in that same span and leading the final score to be 22-9 in favor of the Bulldogs. Sophomore 2nd baseman (2B) Steven Curry went 2-4 and scored 2 runs while Junior left-fielder (LF) Tyler Martin led the Eagles with 4 runs-batted-in (RBIs). The junior OF/catcher, Michael Curry, led the Bulldogs with 5 RBIs on 3-5 hitting. Sophomore Pitcher Tony Locey would pick up the victory for the Bulldogs while Freshman Pitcher Hayden Harris took the loss for the Eagles.
The Eagles came back the next day and picked up their first win of the season 8-3 over the Bulldogs in an amazing pitching effort from the Eagles. Sophomore Pitcher Seth Shuman pitched for six innings and only gave up three hits. Sophomore INF Mitchell Golden led the way for the Eagles with two RBIs on 2-5 hitting along with Freshman INF Jason Swan who hit 1-3 with two RBIs. Sophomore Pitcher Will Proctor took the loss for the Bulldogs while Junior Pitcher Chase Cohen got his first collegiate save.
The Eagles would lose the rubber-match of the series 4-3 on a walk-off-sacrifice fly from sophomore SS Cam Shepard to score freshman INF Cole Tate from 3rd base to win the series for the Bulldogs. Former Armstrong baseball player Cameron Corley, who is finishing his senior season with the Eagles, got his 1st RBI of the season while INF Mitchell Golden and INF Jason Swan also scored run for the Eagles. Sophomore Pitcher Zac Kristofak picked up the win for the Bulldogs while Junior Pitcher Cole Whitney took the loss for the Eagles.
The Eagles, of course, started the season 1-2 and will take on Fairfield in their first home-series after playing GT only once this past Tuesday. They play Fairfield at J.I. Clements Stadium in Statesboro starting Friday Feb. 23rd and ending Sunday Feb. 25th. Catch the Eagles swinging away and diving for fly-balls all spring and remember, Go Eagles!
