MERSHON NINTH INNING HOME RUN RALLIES FURMAN PAST GEORGIA SOUTHERN, 7-6
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A.J. Davidiuk capped a four-run ninth inning rally by scoring on two-out, bases loaded walk to give Furman a 7-6 win over Georgia Southern in Southern Conference baseball action Sunday at Furman Stadium.
Davidiuk’s game winner came after Furman’s Nick Mershon tied the contest with a three-run home run to center field off Eagle reliever Thomas Turner. Davidiuk followed Mershon’s blast with a single to center off GSU lefthander Mike Thompson and moved to third behind a two-out base hit by Andrew Greene, a wild pitch, and a walk to Craig Caudill. Georgia Southern freshman David Cogswell came on in relief of Thompson (0-1) but walked Derek Norman on four straight pitches to force in Davidiuk.
Calvin Hurst (1-2) earned the win in relief for Furman after coming on with two outs in the top of the ninth and striking out Brandon Long with runners on first and second.
With the victory, Furman (7-13, 1-2 SoCon) avoided the three-game series sweep by Georgia Southern (11-14, 6-3 SoCon). The Paladins fell to the Eagles 12-7 in 11 innings on Friday and dropped a 7-4 decision in 11 innings in a suspended game completed prior to Sunday’s series finale.
The Eagles appeared to be in solid shape to sweep the series after taking a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth with Turner on the mound. After thwarting a Paladin rally in the sixth, Turner pitched no-hit ball over his first three innings of work before surrendering back-to-back singles to Dominic Franchini and Matthew Betsill in the ninth ahead of Mershon’s home run.
Greene paced Furman’s 11-hit attack by going 3-for-4. Franchini added a pair of hits as did Paul Ortenzo, who cracked the first home run of his career in the third inning.
Georgia Southern pounded out 15 hits, but the Eagles stranded 14 runners in the contest. Brandon Long GSU’s attack with a 3-for-5 performance.
Georgia Southern combined two hits with a Furman error to grab a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Long’s double down the right field line to scored Logan Phillips, and James Payne, who reached on a fielder’s choice, came home on a groundout by Greg Dowling.
Ortenzo homered in the bottom of the third for Furman to make it a 2-1 game, but Georgia Southern quickly answered in the fourth when Flint Wipke belted a one-out home run to left field to extend the Eagle lead to 3-1.
Brandon Burnsed walked to lead off the sixth inning, stole second, and advanced to third on a Wipke sacrifice. Mike Economos followed with an RBI single and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Travis Adkinson and Phillips then delivered back-to-back singles to plate Economos and stretch GSU’s advantage to 5-1.
Furman used three hits and a GSU error to push across two runs in the bottom of the frame and make it a 5-3 game. After Greene and Joe Daysh led off with singles, Greene came around to score on a fielding error by Phillips. Franchini’s RBI single drove home Daysh and chased Teaford from the mound. Eagle reliever Thomas Turner thwarted the Paladin rally, however, by inducing Norman into a rundown between second and third for the first out. The Eagle freshman righthander then struck out Betsill and got Mershon on pop out.
The Eagles tacked on a final run in the seventh when Burnsed delivered a lead off single, stole second, and came around to score on throwing error by Paladin reliever Ryan Hodinka.
Georgia Southern threatened for more runs in the eighth after loading the bases with one out, but the Paladins’ Dan Washmuth came on in relief of Hokinka and struck out Burnsed and Wipke to end the inning.
Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it entertains Charlotte in a 7:00 p.m. game. Georgia Southern plays Coppin State in Statesboro on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m.