Southern Conference Baseball Standings
Team SoCon All Streak GB
Ga. Southern 7-1 15-7 W-5 —
The Citadel 4-2 15-9 W-1 2
Western Carolina 5-3 13-10 L-1 2
Samford 5-4 15-10 W-3 2.5
Elon 6-5 13-9 W-1 2.5
Appalachian State 4-4 12-8 L-1 3
Charleston 4-4 13-10 W-1 3
Furman 5-7 15-9 L-3 4
Wofford 3-5 11-13 W-3 4
Davidson 4-7 8-13 L-4 4.5
UNC Greensboro 0-5 10-12 L-2 5.5
Saturday's SoCon Scores
Georgia Southern 3, Davidson 2
Charleston 4, Appalachian State 2
The Citadel at Charleston Southern, ppd.
Elon 8, Western Carolina 3
Samford 16, Furman 6
Wofford 3, UNC Greensboro 2
Davidson almost made it home.
Georgia Southern left fielder Scooter Williams gunned down Wildcats pinch hitter Ty Middlebrooks at the plate to end the game in the top of the ninth as the eagles held on to beat Davidson, 3-2, on Saturday at J.I. Clements Stadium.
With the win, GSU (15-7, 7-1 Southern Conference) clinched its 14th-straight series against Davidson, which has now lost 23 games in a row against the Eagles.
Davidson (8-13, 4-7) entered the ninth down 3-1, but rallied to get a run across when Middlebrooks drove in pinch hitter Daniel Gerow with a two-out double on GSU reliever Matt McCall.
The Wildcats used four-straight pinch hitters in the ninth, and Aaron Ruzinsky laced a single into left centerfield in the game’s final at-bat.
Middlebrooks turned around third as Williams scooped up the hit, and had plenty of time to make the throw home. He two-hopped it to catcher Chase Griffin, who made the tag to end the game.
“Sometimes you see guys try to do too much with that throw,” GSU coach Rodney Hennon said,” and (Williams) did a good job of taking his time.”
McCall earned his third save of the season after facing three batters, striking out one and allowing back-to-back hits.
GSU’s starter, left-handed freshman Jason Richman, was tagged with his only earned run when Gerow crossed the plate in the ninth.
Davidson’s only other run came across in the sixth, when third baseman David Daniels scored after reaching on an error.
Richman struck out eight and threw 117 pitches in the win.
“It was a tremendous effort,” Hennon said. “If he doesn’t show up to pitch today, we don’t win — bottom line.”
Davidson stranded four runners in scoring position, and GSU turned a pair of double plays in the win.
“I’m just trying to throw balls over the plate and make good pitches so those guys behind me can make plays,” Richman said. “We’ve got one of the best defenses out there, and it’s easy when you’ve got those guys behind you.”
Georgia Southern third baseman Brent Pugh (2-for-3) hit a two-run homer to straightaway center in the fourth, and scrapped across the Eagles’ first run in the second when he reached on an infield single that drove in T.D. Davis, who doubled to lead off the inning.
Pugh came off of an 0-for-4 Friday night in which he struck out three times.
“He had a tough night (on Friday),” Hennon said, “and it was nice to see him bounce back, not just with the home run, but he put a ball in play with two strikes in his first at-bat, too. That was big with both pitchers in a pretty good rhythm on the mound.”
Davidson’s Danny Mooney pitched 7.2 innings and struck out eight while allowing all three GSU runs.
The Eagles will go for the sweep today with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch. They will be going for their eighth-straight season sweep of the Wildcats.
NOTES: The game lasted just 2 hours, 11 minutes. It was the shortest game of the season for GSU. The game lasted seven fewer minutes than Friday’s game, which was the previous low. … GSU catcher Chase Griffin (0-for-4) saw a nine-game hitting streak come to an end Saturday. … The Eagles improved to 81-18 all time against the Wildcats. Game 100 of the series will be played today. … Announced attendance for Saturday’s game was 814.
Matt Yogus may be reached at (912) 489-9408.
