Eagle baseball sweeps UGA

Layne Saliba

After a rainy Saturday suspended game two of the series, Georgia Southern University and the University of Georgia were forced to play a double header on Sunday.

It proved to be tough for both teams, but Georgia Southern won the series for the third season in a row as they swept the Bulldogs for the first time since 1993 in Statesboro.

“They’re [Georgia] a good team,” head coach Rodney Hennon said. “We’re very fortunate to come out on top and it certainly gives us some momentum.”

 Georgia Southern vs. Georgia – Game 2

The game really got started in the second inning with the Eagles (8-4) at the plate and junior 2B Kent Rollins on first.

And that’s all it took. Sophomore C C.J. Brazil put down a sacrifice bunt to advance Rollins. Freshman CF Logan Baldwin hit a single up the middle that scored Rollins following that bunt and Georgia Southern took the 1-0 lead.

From that point on, it was a quiet game from both teams. Although Georgia (6-4) loaded the bases a few times throughout the remaining innings, Georgia Southern was able to get out of the game with no runs scoring.

Junior LHP Jason Richman (3-0) got the win after coming in to relieve senior RHP Tripp Sheppard. Richman pitched four innings allowing one hit and striking out four.

Junior RHP Chris Brown came in to close the game in the ninth and got his fourth save of the season. All he needed was 10 pitches to finish the game as he struck out one and let his teammates do the rest.

The clean work from those two pitchers allowed Georgia Southern to win the series with a final score of 1-0.

 Georgia Southern vs. Georgia – Game 3

Georgia started game three off with a bang. They were obviously not ready to let Georgia Southern get the series sweep easily.

After a leadoff single for Georgia, the Eagles were able to get two outs. However, that was followed by a walk and an error that allowed Georgia to place two men in scoring position. Both of those runs scored and put Georgia ahead 2-0.

It began to go back and forth in the bottom of the fifth inning with Georgia Southern scoring one off a senior DH Hunter Thomas homerun, making it a 2-1 ball game.

Georgia answered with a run of their own in the next inning giving them the two-run lead again. Then, in the bottom of that inning, Georgia Southern came back, scoring another run giving Georgia the single run advantage once again with a score of 3-2.

The Eagles were then able to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh and score two runs after a senior C Chase Griffin single to center field.

Georgia was not able to score any more runs and the Eagles swept Georgia in the weekend series with a 4-3 victory in game three.

Junior RHP Ryan Frederick got his first win of the season as he pitched three innings striking out two of the eight batters he faced.

Brown came into the game for the last inning and recorded his fifth save by striking out two of the three batters he faced.

“I’m just proud of our kids and the way they competed,” Hennon said.

Georgia Southern will be back at J.I. Clements Stadium on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to face Mercer in game one of a home-and-home series.