Georgia Southern splits series with Texas State

Layne Saliba

Georgia Southern came back from an early deficit, racking up 20 hits, to take the 12-3 victory in game two of the series with Texas State.

Senior RHP Tripp Sheppard got the win on the night for the Eagles (17-12, 7-4 SBC) after pitching six innings and letting up the Bobcats’ (11-14-1, 7-4 SBC) only runs. Sheppard (2-2) gave up just four hits while striking out three of the 25 batsmen he faced.

Redshirt junior LF Hunter Thomas went 4-5 while hitting his fifth home run of the season that drove in the Eagles’ first three runs. He recorded four RBIs as well.

Sophomore 1B Ryan Cleveland went 4-5 and added two RBIs while senior RF Aaron Mizell went 4-6 with one double.

The game seemed like it was starting slow for the Eagles as Texas State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. However, with two outs in the top of the third inning, Thomas came to the plate.

There were men on first and second and Thomas took a chance on the first pitch he saw. He connected and sent the ball flying over the right-field fence, giving Georgia Southern a 3-2 lead.

Sheppard held Texas State scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when he let up one run. That is when Hennon decided to take him out and send in junior LHP Anthony Paesano to finish the job.

After putting up six more runs before the pitching change, it seemed like the Eagles had the game all but sealed away.

However, they were not done. Another three-run inning in the ninth gave the Eagles the 12-3 advantage, which is where the scoring stopped.

Game three is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. as the teams battle to get ahead in the Sun Belt standings.