GEORGIA SOUTHERN 10, NORTH FLORIDA 9
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. ? Georgia Southern erupted for six runs in the top of the ninth inning, rallying for a 13-9 win at North Florida Wednesday (Feb. 14). The Eagles (5-2 overall) won their fourth straight while UNF fell to 0-4.
Down 9-7 to start the frame, Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) started the ninth with a single through the right side. He took second base on a wild pitch from Antonio Franzese. Two batters later, Jeremy Beckham (Griffin/Griffin) hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Mycal Jones could not field which allowed Pierce to score. Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) followed with a game-tying RBI double. Mike Economos (Atlanta/Marist) reached on an infield error then A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) drew a walk to bring home the go-ahead run. A RBI groundout from Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) then a 2-run double from Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) capped the rally.
GS took advantage of a walk and hit batter to start the second inning. Economos drew a leadoff walk then Wirnsberger was hit by a pitch from freshman Gordon Lott. Benedict dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Shehan brought home a run off a groundout. Porter ripped a two-out single to right center, spotting the Eagles to a 2-0 lead.
North Florida used a leadoff hit by pitch to help cut into the Eagles’ lead. T.J. Gaudy was hit by a Josh Lairsey (Waycross/Ware County) pitch to start the third inning. He took second on a sacrifice bunt then scored on Mycal Jones RBI double.
In the fourth, Lairsey hit a batter and gave up a single to James Belyea to put runners at first and second. Jon Dandridge failed to get a sacrifice bunt down, and on the pitch Benedict threw down to Pierce to pick off the lead runner. Belyea stole second base, but Lairsey was able to strike out Dandridge on three pitches for the second out. Andy Warren dropped a bloop single into shallow centerfield to tie the score.
Key hits with two outs spurred a four-run fifth inning for the Eagles. Shehan singled to start then Porter reached on an infield single. Pierce laid down his team-leading fourth sacrifice bunt to advance both runners. On a 3-2 count with two outs, Beckham ripped a 2-run double in front of Dandridge in right field. That chased starter Lott.
Relief pitcher Ranzo Sheppard walked Miller. Economos drilled a 2-run double into the left field gap, extending the lead to 6-2.
Damon Olinto hit a two-out solo homer in the fifth, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 6-3. A hustle play by Shehan scored another two-out run for Georgia Southern. Pierce dropped a single down the right field line, and with Shehan running from first base all the way was able to score on the play.
The Ospreys scored two runs in the sixth off relief pitcher David Cogswell (Toccoa/Stephens County). A two-out wild pitch and RBI single from Jones made it a 7-5 game. A.J. Battisto (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, but the senior got a ground ball force out to end the UNF scoring threat.
In the seventh, the Eagle bullpen could not hold onto the lead. With one out, T.J. Thompson lined a RBI double, an error allowed Paul Morales to reach and Preston Hale hit an infield single which tied the score at 7-all. Charlie Strohecker (Alpharetta/Milton) came on in relief. The freshman struck out a batter and got a ground out fielder’s choice to end the Ospreys’ threat.
UNF took a 9-7 lead in the eighth when Belyea hammered a 2-run shot with two down off Strohecker (3-0). The freshman right-hander gave up the two runs on one hit in 1.2 innings but earned the win. Kyle Kamppi
(Savannah/Benedictine) struck out two while closing the door in the ninth.
Lairssenior left-hander struck out three and did not walk a batter.
Porter finished 3-for-5 with three RBI. Shehan and Pierce had two hits apiece. Beckham tallied three RBI and scored two runs.
Belyea led the Ospreys with three hits. Franzese (0-1) gave up three runs, but just one earned, off three hits in 1.1 innings.
The Eagles return home for a three-game series against New Jersey Tech. Friday night’s (Feb. 17) first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m., then 1:30 p.m. starts slated for Saturday and Sunday.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 9, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 5
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -- Michael Kohn blasted a pair of homers and three Cougar pitchers struck out 13 as the College of Charleston opened its season with a 9-5 win over Charleston Southern in college baseball action before 371 at Patriots Point Field on Wednesday.
Charleston, which opens a three-game series with Towson at 5:00 on Friday at Patriots Point, is 1-0. The Buccaneers fell to 4-1.
Kohn, a first-year transfer from USC Upstate, hit a solo homer to right center leading off the second that gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead. CSU tied the score a 2-all on Justin Fyle's two-out, two-run double in the fourth.
The Cougars got a two-run single by Ben Lasater, an RBI single from Michael Harrington and Kohn's second homer of the night, a two-run blast to center, that stretched their lead to 7-2 in the fifth.
The Cougars added a sacrifice fly in the sixth from Chris Campbell and an RBI double from Oliver Marmol in the eighth. CSU scored a run on a wild pitch in the seventh and added a two-run homer from Wes Brundrige in the eighth, his third of the season, for the final margin.
Charleston's Nick Chigges (1-0) picked up the win allowing two runs with nine strikeouts over six innings of work. Mike Lynn fanned three in 2 2/3 innings of work, while Brian Schlitter recorded the game's final out with a strikeout.
Gabe Marchant, Marmol, Lasater and Kohn paced CofC's 10-hit attack with two hits each. Fyle and Stephen Herzog had two hits each for the Bucs.