In a game controlled most of the way by Kennesaw State, Georgia Southern took advantage of what it was given.
    Entering the eighth inning tied 2-2, the Eagles scrapped across six runs to take down the visiting Owls 8-2 Tuesday at J.I. Clements Stadium.
    The Eagles (13-9) batted around in the eighth, and third baseman Andy Moye (3-for-4) got the first hit, the first run and the last RBI of the inning.
    “I’m getting more comfortable out there. In that last inning I was down in the count and I was just trying to sit on the off-speed stuff,” said Moye about his final at-bat. “I got a base hit right up the middle.”
    Totaling only three hits through the first seven innings, GSU got things started in the eighth with a one-out single up the middle by Moye. Catcher Tom Richardson pounded another single up the middle, and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Brent Pugh drew a walk through a mid-at-bat pitching change to load the bases, and after Arthur Owens struck out for the second out of the inning, Shawn Payne was hit by a pitch from KSU reliever Andrew Austin to drive in Moye for the go-ahead run.
    The runs kept coming.
    Michael Burruss drove in Richardson with an infield single. Pugh scored on a bunt single by Eric Phillips. Steve Cochrane walked to drive in Payne. Victor Roache reached on an infield single to short, which scored Burruss.
    Moye put the icing on the cake with the hardest-hit ball of the inning, a single to center, to drive in Phillips.
    Matt Murray (4-1) got the win, facing the minimum through two innings and striking out two, and Justin Hess, who entered the game with a 6.64 ERA, extended his scorless-inning streak to 11.1 after throwing five scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
    “I don’t think I’ve put too much pressure on myself,” Hess said about his difficult start to the season. “I’ve just got to attack the zone more and be aggressive.”
    Kennesaw’s Alan Busenitz took the loss, pitching the seventh in relief and one out into the eighth.
    Josh Adams got the start for the Eagles, but left the game after two unearned runs in the second gave KSU a 2-1 lead.
    The Eagles were just as scrappy in the sixth when they tied the game.
     With runners on the corners and two down, Moye got caught in a rundown between first and second, and Cochrane, who was on third, took the opportunity to score. Moye dodged a tag by KSU’s Andy Chriscaden to safely return to first, where nobody was covering, to avoid the inning-ending out.
    Georgia Southern returns to Southern Conference play Friday in Charleston, S.C. as it faces College of Charleston in a three-game series. Chris Beck (2-0, 2.18 ERA) is the projected starter for Game 1 at 6 p.m. on Friday.

    Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.