Another strong pitching performance and an offense fueled by eight hits from Mike Economos and A.J. Wirnsberger capped a memorable weekend for the Georgia Southern baseball team.
The Eagles followed Saturday’s 11-4 win over No. 10 Georgia Tech – their first at home against the Yellow Jackets in 21 tries – with a 9-6 victory Sunday at J.I. Clements Stadium. Southern’s two-game sweep marked the first time since 1996 the Eagles (3-2) took two-straight from Tech (0-2).
“It was huge, especially doing it at home,” said Economos, who was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and two RBIs. “We hadn’t beaten Tech at home since 1996, and to do it twice gives us a lot of confidence and momentum as a team.”
Wirnsberger, a true freshman starting at first base, tied a school record with three doubles and went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs. Georgia Southern had 16 hits Sunday to Tech’s nine, and the Eagles out-hit the Jackets 30-15 in the series.
“We couldn’t have taken better swings for two ballgames,” Eagle coach Rodney Hennon said. “We made some hard outs today, and our guys did a good job of being locked in and making every at-bat count in these two ballgames. Hopefully, we can build off that.”
True freshman right-hander Brian Wilkerson (1-1) had his second straight strong outing, allowing three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings for his first career win. Kyle Kamppi, a sophomore transfer from Gardner-Webb, worked the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and three runs to pick up his first save.
“The biggest thing we’ve seen early in the season from this team is the improvement on our pitching staff,” Hennon said. “That was a big question mark coming in, and to see some consistency there in the first five ballgames from our starters and our bullpen really gives this team a boost.”
Trailing 2-0, Georgia Southern evened the game in the fourth after Economos and Wirnsberger opened the frame with back-to-back doubles. Chris Shehan’s groundout drove in Economos and Jeremiah Parker’s run-scoring single made in 2-2. The Eagles took the lead for good with a four-run fifth highlighted by back-to-back RBI doubles from Economos and Wirnsberger and Shehan’s RBI triple.
Georgia Southern pushed its lead to 9-3 with three more runs in the seventh on an Economos RBI single, a run-scoring ground-rule double by Wirnsberger and Shehan’s RBI sacrifice fly.
“We got some big two-out hits from (Wirnsberger and Economos) to pad the lead and give Kamppi a few more runs to work with late,” Hennon said.
Tech pulled within three on centerfielder Danny Payne’s one-out, two-run home run in the ninth, but Kamppi retired the next two batters to preserve the win. Payne and designated hitter Tony Plagman led Tech with two hits each, while starter Ryan Turner allowed 10 hits and five runs over 4 2/3 innings for the loss.
Hennon and Economos said having three games under their before facing the Jackets helped Georgia Southern this weekend. The Eagles went 1-2 in last weekend at Hawaii, while Saturday’s and Sunday’s games were the first two for Tech.
“It gets the nerves out, playing three games before these guys,” Economos said. “I still think a few guys were nervous coming out here and playing the No. 10 team, but we settled in and put a hurting on them pretty good.”
Overall, Hennon was encouraged by what he saw this weekend.
“It means an awful lot to come back from losing (the Hawaii) series and win two ballgames,” he said. “It makes a world of difference, and we are going to see two more good baseball teams coming up. We’ll enjoy (this weekend) for the moment, but it’s important we stay focused and are ready to go the week ahead.”
Georgia Southern begins a two-game road trip Tuesday with a 3:30 p.m. game at Jacksonville. The Eagles play at North Florida at 4 p.m. on Wednesday before hosting New Jersey Tech for a three-game set beginning Friday at 7 p.m.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
The Eagles followed Saturday’s 11-4 win over No. 10 Georgia Tech – their first at home against the Yellow Jackets in 21 tries – with a 9-6 victory Sunday at J.I. Clements Stadium. Southern’s two-game sweep marked the first time since 1996 the Eagles (3-2) took two-straight from Tech (0-2).
“It was huge, especially doing it at home,” said Economos, who was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and two RBIs. “We hadn’t beaten Tech at home since 1996, and to do it twice gives us a lot of confidence and momentum as a team.”
Wirnsberger, a true freshman starting at first base, tied a school record with three doubles and went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs. Georgia Southern had 16 hits Sunday to Tech’s nine, and the Eagles out-hit the Jackets 30-15 in the series.
“We couldn’t have taken better swings for two ballgames,” Eagle coach Rodney Hennon said. “We made some hard outs today, and our guys did a good job of being locked in and making every at-bat count in these two ballgames. Hopefully, we can build off that.”
True freshman right-hander Brian Wilkerson (1-1) had his second straight strong outing, allowing three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings for his first career win. Kyle Kamppi, a sophomore transfer from Gardner-Webb, worked the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and three runs to pick up his first save.
“The biggest thing we’ve seen early in the season from this team is the improvement on our pitching staff,” Hennon said. “That was a big question mark coming in, and to see some consistency there in the first five ballgames from our starters and our bullpen really gives this team a boost.”
Trailing 2-0, Georgia Southern evened the game in the fourth after Economos and Wirnsberger opened the frame with back-to-back doubles. Chris Shehan’s groundout drove in Economos and Jeremiah Parker’s run-scoring single made in 2-2. The Eagles took the lead for good with a four-run fifth highlighted by back-to-back RBI doubles from Economos and Wirnsberger and Shehan’s RBI triple.
Georgia Southern pushed its lead to 9-3 with three more runs in the seventh on an Economos RBI single, a run-scoring ground-rule double by Wirnsberger and Shehan’s RBI sacrifice fly.
“We got some big two-out hits from (Wirnsberger and Economos) to pad the lead and give Kamppi a few more runs to work with late,” Hennon said.
Tech pulled within three on centerfielder Danny Payne’s one-out, two-run home run in the ninth, but Kamppi retired the next two batters to preserve the win. Payne and designated hitter Tony Plagman led Tech with two hits each, while starter Ryan Turner allowed 10 hits and five runs over 4 2/3 innings for the loss.
Hennon and Economos said having three games under their before facing the Jackets helped Georgia Southern this weekend. The Eagles went 1-2 in last weekend at Hawaii, while Saturday’s and Sunday’s games were the first two for Tech.
“It gets the nerves out, playing three games before these guys,” Economos said. “I still think a few guys were nervous coming out here and playing the No. 10 team, but we settled in and put a hurting on them pretty good.”
Overall, Hennon was encouraged by what he saw this weekend.
“It means an awful lot to come back from losing (the Hawaii) series and win two ballgames,” he said. “It makes a world of difference, and we are going to see two more good baseball teams coming up. We’ll enjoy (this weekend) for the moment, but it’s important we stay focused and are ready to go the week ahead.”
Georgia Southern begins a two-game road trip Tuesday with a 3:30 p.m. game at Jacksonville. The Eagles play at North Florida at 4 p.m. on Wednesday before hosting New Jersey Tech for a three-game set beginning Friday at 7 p.m.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
