Designated hitter Michael Burruss went 1-for-5.
He also scored three times and finished with five RBIs, and that wasn’t even the wildest part of the game.
Georgia Southern and Wofford combined for 10 errors as the Eagles broke a five-game, Southern Conference losing streak with a 12-4 win in Game 2 of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.
"We loosened up and took some better swings, and we were able to finally put the game away, so that was good to see," said GSU coach Rodney Hennon. "Obviously it was a sloppy game, but a win is a good win any time you can get one. We were able to even it up, and we’re going to have to come back [today] and play good baseball. We’ve given ourselves a chance to win the series, and that’s probably the most important thing."
The bats of GSU (27-20, 14-9 SoCon) came alive in the later innings, but the Eagles took advantage of early errors by Wofford (20-27, 7-16) to get ahead early.
For the second game in a row, the Terriers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but GSU answered with two in the bottom of the inning. Burruss struck out, but reached on a dropped third strike, and Victor Roach doubled to get him to third.
Burruss scored on an RBI groundout by Eric Phillips, and Roache crossed the plate unearned due to a throwing error after Tom Richardson singled him home.
Roache, who drew three walks and was hit by a pitch batting in the cleanup spot during Friday’s loss, hit from the three-hole Saturday ahead of Phillips and finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
Phillips (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) made it 3-1 in the third inning after reaching on a single, stealing both first and second and scoring on Richardson’s second RBI single of the game.
It seemed for every fielding mistake, there was an equally impressive effort out in the field. Though the Eagles committed five errors, they also turned three double plays.
One of which — of the 5-3-5 variety — happened with the Terriers down 2-1 in the third.
Alex Lee led off the inning with a single and leadoff hitter James Foster hit a sharp line drive to third. Brent Pugh almost made a diving catch, and did enough to knock it down. He recovered to get the out at first base, and when Lee tried to take third on the play, Pugh got the ball back from first to make the tag.
"He made a great effort to knock the ball down and get the out at first, and Garren Palmer comes up and makes the throw to third," Hennon said. "At the time, I thought it was a huge play in the ballgame."
Both teams scored twice in the fourth, but the Eagles broke things open with a combined seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings, including a three-run homer by Burruss that scored Shawn Payne (3-for-4, BB, 3 R) and Pugh.
Sophomore Justin Hess (3-2) got the win, pitching five innings and allowing three runs (one earned) on five Wofford hits. Will Middour, Jarret Leverett and Colin Snow combined to pitch the final four innings. Each allowed only one base runner, and Leverett gave up an earned run on one hit.
The Eagles will try to avoid dropping their third SoCon series of the season today as they close out the series at 1:30 p.m. Joe Lower will get the start for GSU.
NOTES
: Roache was voted Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Month after hitting 15 home runs in April. … Saturday’s game featured a pre-game ceremony in which two former Eagles – Julio Ayala and Brett Lewis - were inducted onto the Georgia Southern Wall of Fame. … Announced attendance was 2,055.
Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.
