Over the weekend, Georgia Southern hosted the South Alabama Jaguars for a three-game series. The series was more important than normal, however, as it pitted the No. 1 team in the Sun Belt’s East division, USA, against the No. 2 team in the East, GS.

Friday’s series opener was a disaster for the Eagles as they watched the Jaguars dominate en route to a 12-5 victory.

Powered by three hits and three RBIs from Noah Ledford, GS tied the game at five in the fifth inning, but a six-run sixth inning from USA put the game out of reach.

Tyler Owens got the start on the mound, but Hayden Harris was credited with his second loss of the season.

Despite the loss, GS rebounded in a big way on Saturday. Eight Eagles recorded at least one hit during a commanding 11-2 victory.

The outstanding 16-hit performance was highlighted by three hits each from Mason McWhorter, Christian Avant and Austin Thompson. J.P. Tighe and Parker Bierder also recorded multiple hits for GS.

Freshman Chase Dollander was back in the starting position for the Eagles, but Jay Thompson was credited with a win on Saturday.

For the fourth time this season, GS found themselves playing in a Sunday rubber game. This time, the Eagles escaped an intense back-and-forth game with a 7-6 win.

Both teams scored two runs in the opening inning and GS held a two-run lead after the third inning. However, USA quickly reclaimed the lead with a two-run fourth inning. The Eagles tacked on three more runs over the course of the game and held off the Jaguars to escape victorious.

Thompson only pitched one inning for the Eagles, but pushed his record to 6-0 on the season. Senior Nick Jones notched his 13th save of the season, the most in the NCAA.

GS now sits at 27-16 (11-7 SBC) on the season, just one game behind the Jaguars for first in the East division. The Eagles have six conference games remaining, while USA has nine more Sun Belt games on the schedule.

The Eagles will be back in action this weekend as they travel to take on Arkansas State. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, while first pitch for the series finale is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.