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Georgia Southern holds off Mercer after 9th-inning rally
GSU New

T.D. Davis broke open a 7-7 tie with a RBI double, and Georgia Southern scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning as the Eagles snapped a 14-game home winning streak for the Mercer Bears with a 10-7 win.

Georgia Southern (10-6) sent eight batters to the plate in the final inning to score three runs. Chase Griffin led off the inning with a single and scored the first run on the double by Davis. Robbie Dodds kept the rally going with a base hit before Arthur Owens drove in Davis with a single. After Zac Lenns drew a walk to load the bases, Tyler Avera drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.

Matt McCall (1-0) picked up his first career win as an Eagle after coming on in relief to get out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning. McCall allowed one run in the ninth inning but retired the side with the bases loaded. McCall gave up three hits over 2.1 innings and struck out two batters.

Ben Lumsden (2-1) suffered the loss for Mercer (14-4) after giving up the final three innings on six hits. Lumsden tossed 1.1 innings and struck out two batters on 40 pitches.

Georgia Southern finished with 13 hits and had six different hitters record two hits. Chase Griffin, T.D. Davis and Robbie Dodds each recorded two hits and drove in two runs, while Scooter Williams, Griffin and Brent Pugh all scored two runs each. Mercer recorded 13 hits and was led by Chesny Young's three singles.

The Eagles took a 3-2 lead after three innings of play. Pugh doubled with one out in the third inning. Morgan followed with a two-out walk and both runners scored on a single by Griffin.

Mercer rallied to take a 5-3 lead with three runs in the sixth inning. Logan Gaines drove in Austin Barrett, who doubled two batters earlier, for the first run of the inning. Sasha Lagarde followed with a two-out home run to plate Gaines.

Georgia Southern retook the lead with a four-run seventh inning. The Eagles sent nine batters to the plate and tallied four hits. Scooter Williams drove in a lead off double from Stryker Brown to start the scoring. Davis folowed with a RBI single, and Dodds plated two more runs with a base hit.

Baseball continues a five-game road swing at Samford Friday. The Eagles will open a three-game weekend series against the Bulldogs at 7 p.m.