Statesboro, Ga.-- Georgia Southern and Furman split a Southern Conference doubleheader
Saturday at Clements Stadium as the Eagles claimed a 6-2 win in game one while
Paladins won 2-1 in 11 innings in game two.
In game one, Georgia Southern (11-4, 3-1) opened the scoring with a run in
the bottom of the second inning and Furman (8-5, 1-1) answered with a run of
its own in the top of the third before the two teams traded runs in the fourth
for a 2-2 tie.
The Eagles gained control of the game in the bottom of the seventh with a pair
of runs. Gilligan led off the frame with a bunt single and moved to second on
Rocky Baker's bunt single. Gilligan moved to third on a James Payne double play
and stole home to give the Eagles a 3-2 advantage. Carlos Love followed with
a single to right center, moved to third on an A.J. Zickgraf single and scored
when Betsill misplayed Matt Hammond's ground ball at third base to stretch Georgia
Southern's lead to 4-2.With Burnsed on first, Baker connected on his third home
run of the season in the bottom of the eighth to give Georgia Southern its final
two runs and a 6-2 advantage.
John Carroll, who relieved GSU starter Brian Rogers in the fourth inning, picked
up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. The freshman righthander struck
out six and allowed just one hit in five innings of work. Patrick Griffin took
the loss for Furman after allowing three earned runs on 11 hits in seven innings
of work.
The two starting pitchers ruled game two as Eagle starter Dennis Dove allowed
five hits and walked two while striking out a career-high 14 in eight and two-thirds
innings of work. Meanwhile, Paladin starter Tom Mastney allowed six hits and
one run while striking out nine in eight-plus innings of work.
Georgia Southern scored first with a two-out run in the first inning. Payne
tripled with one out and, after a Carlos Love strikeout, scored on Grant Burruss'
single to left. Mastney settled down from their, retiring the next 16 batters,
a streak that was snapped by a Love single in the seventh inning.
Furman tied the game in the top of the ninth as pinch hitter Richie Dean reached
on a leadoff single up the middle before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt
by Craig Caudill. A Derek Norman groundout moved Dean to third, allowing him
to score on Dominic Frankey's infield single.
The Paladins scored the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Brandon Barrett led off with a single up the middle and moved to third when Steve Cogswell (0-1) misplayed Caudill's sacrifice bunt. Drew Latora plated Barrett with a sacrifice fly to give Furman a 2-1 advantage.
David Mitchell picked up the win to improve to 1-0 as he allowed one hit in one and a third innings of work.
Baker collected four hits in nine plate appearances on the day for Georgia
Southern while Love was three-of-eight. Frankey tallied three hits in seven
at-bats to lead the Paladins.
The two teams play the series finale Sunday, March 9 at 1:30 p.m. in Clements Stadium.