Recap

The Georgia Southern baseball team on Tuesday defeated College of Charleston on the road, 8-4, behind seven runs – including three home runs – in the Eagles’ third inning.

The Eagles have won five of their last six games and are on a three-game winning streak.

Senior shortstop Evan McDonald sparked the Eagles’ offensive spurt Tuesday with a two-run double that scored junior outfielder Logan Baldwin and senior catcher C.J. Brazil. Then, the rain hit and delayed play for about half an hour. The weather did not hinder the Eagles’ momentum or their offensive firepower.

The first man up after the delay, senior outfielder Jordan Wren, blasted a three-run home run into right field. The homer scored freshman infielder Mitchell Golden and senior shortstop Evan McDonald, along with Wren. That made the score 5-0 Eagles. But they weren’t done.

Sophomore catcher Tyler Martin took the first pitch from Charleston’s Carter Love and homered over the left-center field wall, a solo shot. To add injury to the Cougars’ injury, GS freshman first baseman Mason McWhorter hit the Eagles’ third home run of the inning, another solo shot over the center field wall.

College of Charleston scored two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, cutting the Georgia Southern lead to 7-4 going into the seventh inning. The Cougars’ runs came off singles, a sacrifice fly, and a wild pitch.

In the top of the eighth inning, Brazil drove in sophomore outfielder C.J. Ballard with a single to make the score 8-4, which would become the final score.

Graduate student Ryan Frederick (1-0) earned the pitching win for the Eagles, and he was among a slew of pitchers who came in and performed for the Eagles. Junior right-hander Adam Kelly started the game and went 2 and 1-3 innings, then Frederick took over. Senior right-hander Landon Hughes came in and finished the Cougars off in the bottom of the ninth.

Stats

On Tuesday night, four Eagles had multi-hit games. C.J. Brazil went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Evan McDonald, Tyler Martin and Mitchell Golden all went 2-for-4 in the game. Jordan Wren led the Eagles with 3 RBIs on his only hit, the third-inning post-delay home run. Wren and Martin’s homers were their second on the year, and Mason McWhorter’s was his first.

On Tuesday, the Eagles won despite a 1-for-5, three strikeout performance from their hitting-machine senior first baseman Ryan Cleveland. The team showed they can be formidable offensively without Cleveland performing up to his team-leading .591 slugging percentage and .479 on-base percentage. Cleveland also leads the Eagles in homers (5), RBIs (26), and doubles (10).

The Eagles’ leadoff hitter, freshman infielder Steven Curry, leads the team in hits with 35 and at bats with 103 and is second to Mitchell Golden (.343) in batting average at .340.

On the mound, sophomore Brian Eichhorn has pitched the most innings for the Eagles, with 29. Junior Connor Simmons and freshman Seth Shuman both have 3-0 records this season for Georgia Southern.

Where the Eagles Stand

After Tuesday’s win, the Eagles are 15-10 overall this season and remain at 3-3 in conference play. Currently, they sit tied with Troy for third in the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division, behind South Alabama (15-10, 5-1) and Coastal Carolina (15-9, 4-2).

The Eagles will play a home conference series this weekend against Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks enter this weekend’s series at 8-17 overall and 3-3 in conference play. Games one and two will be Friday and Saturday evenings at 6:30 p.m. Game three is Sunday at 1 p.m at J.I. Clements Stadium.

The Eagles will play three 3-game conference series – against ULM, Troy, and Appalachian State – before April 15 as the Sun Belt standings begin to take a clearer shape.