It wasn’t the start to Southern Conference play Georgia Southern had hoped for, but the Eagles will attempt to move forward quickly and rebound today.
After a strong start to their season, the Eagles (16-10) didn’t play to their potential Friday against Furman when their bats fell silent, they committing a pair of errors and struggled on the mound. The Paladins (6-14) came to Statesboro having lost 10 of their last 12 games.
“We weren’t real sharp tonight on the mound, and we made some mistakes defensively that we haven’t been making lately,” Eagle coach Rodney Hennon said. “We didn’t execute when we had opportunities offensively. That’s baseball, and you’re going to have days like that. We’ll put it behind us and go back to work.”
The Paladins scored all of their runs off GSU starter Brian Wilkerson (4-3), who took the loss, allowing eight runs (six earned) and 10 hits over 42⁄3 innings.
Center fielder Matt Miller hit his team-leading 12th double of the year to the right-field corner with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Georgia Southern’s only run of the night. Second baseman Jeremy Beckham, designated hitter Kyle Blackburn and shortstop Brian Pierce had two hits each for the Eagles, who were out-hit 13-9.
Georgia Southern threatened in the fourth but failed to score after loading the bases with one out. The Eagles left two on in the first and third innings and stranded 11 base runners to Furman’s eight.
Furman took a 2-0 lead on back-to-back RBI singles in the second, scored a single run in the third and pushed its advantage to 5-0 on a two-run double by No. 9-hitter Spence Gibbs in the fourth.
Furman left fielder Jay Jackson chased Wilkerson from the game with a two-out, three-run home run over the scoreboard in the fifth to give the visitors an 8-0 edge.
“They got some big two-out hits and we didn’t,” Hennon said. “That was the difference in the baseball game. We’ve got to put it behind us and come back and do the things that we’ve been doing all year. That’s coming down here with a good positive attitude, preparing well and playing hard all day tomorrow.”
Sophomore right hander Drew Murray will take the mound for Georgia Southern in today’s 1:30 p.m. game.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
After a strong start to their season, the Eagles (16-10) didn’t play to their potential Friday against Furman when their bats fell silent, they committing a pair of errors and struggled on the mound. The Paladins (6-14) came to Statesboro having lost 10 of their last 12 games.
“We weren’t real sharp tonight on the mound, and we made some mistakes defensively that we haven’t been making lately,” Eagle coach Rodney Hennon said. “We didn’t execute when we had opportunities offensively. That’s baseball, and you’re going to have days like that. We’ll put it behind us and go back to work.”
The Paladins scored all of their runs off GSU starter Brian Wilkerson (4-3), who took the loss, allowing eight runs (six earned) and 10 hits over 42⁄3 innings.
Center fielder Matt Miller hit his team-leading 12th double of the year to the right-field corner with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Georgia Southern’s only run of the night. Second baseman Jeremy Beckham, designated hitter Kyle Blackburn and shortstop Brian Pierce had two hits each for the Eagles, who were out-hit 13-9.
Georgia Southern threatened in the fourth but failed to score after loading the bases with one out. The Eagles left two on in the first and third innings and stranded 11 base runners to Furman’s eight.
Furman took a 2-0 lead on back-to-back RBI singles in the second, scored a single run in the third and pushed its advantage to 5-0 on a two-run double by No. 9-hitter Spence Gibbs in the fourth.
Furman left fielder Jay Jackson chased Wilkerson from the game with a two-out, three-run home run over the scoreboard in the fifth to give the visitors an 8-0 edge.
“They got some big two-out hits and we didn’t,” Hennon said. “That was the difference in the baseball game. We’ve got to put it behind us and come back and do the things that we’ve been doing all year. That’s coming down here with a good positive attitude, preparing well and playing hard all day tomorrow.”
Sophomore right hander Drew Murray will take the mound for Georgia Southern in today’s 1:30 p.m. game.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
