There was plenty to smile about Saturday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Not only did Georgia Southern knock off the 10th-best team in the nation, Georgia Tech, but the Eagles’ 11-4 win was their first home victory over the Yellow Jackets since 1996.
A crowd of more than 2,700, the second-largest in J.I. Clements history, witnessed the victory, which snapped GSU’s 20-game home losing streak to the Jackets.
“It was a great crowd and a good win for our program,” Eagle coach Rodney Hennon said. “They’ve had our number down here, so it’s good to get that monkey off our back. It was a total team effort. We did a lot of good things offensively today, and (starting pitcher) Drew (Murray) had good stuff.”
Sophomore centerfielder Matt Miller had a career-high five RBI, and junior second baseman Jeremy Beckham recorded a game-high three hits as Georgia Southern (2-2) out-hit the Jackets (0-1) 14-6.
Freshman Charlie Strohecker (2-0) got the win in 11⁄3 innings of relief, while senior A.J. Battisto retired eight straight batters in three scoreless innings for his first save this year. Starter David Duncan suffered the loss, allowing six earned runs in five innings.
Beckham and Miller jumped-started the Eagle offense in the first when Beckam slammed a one-out double, stole third and put the home team up 1-0 on Miller’s RBI single. Miller pushed GSU’s lead to 5-0 with a bases-clearing, three-run double down the leftfield line the next inning. Freshman first baseman A.J. Wirnsberger’s first career home run, a solo shot to left, put the Eagles up 6-0 in the third.
“(Miller) took some good swings every at bat today,” Hennon said. “It looked like he was seeing the ball pretty well. A lot of guys contributed today. When we were in some situations where we were in a bind, we executed. Padding the lead was big is those later innings.”
Murray, a sophomore transfer from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, worked his way out of trouble early, striking out the side in the first to escape a one-out bases-loaded jam. He threw three hitless innings before Tech scored three unearned runs with two outs in the fourth to cut GSU’s lead in half, 6-3. Murray allowed four hits and zero earned runs in 42⁄3 innings. He struck out four and walked four.
“(Murray) hurt himself a little bit with base on balls, and we hurt ourselves defensively in the fourth inning,” Hennon said. “If we can cut down on a couple of those mistakes, he’s got a chance to go deeper in the ballgame. Fortunately, we overcame those mistakes. Strohecker did a nice job out of the bullpen, and A.J. did a great job finishing the game.”
Chris Hollis, Griffin Benedict, Phillip Porter, Wirnsberger and Miller had two hits each for Georgia Southern, which added three runs in the sixth on a passed ball and a two-run Hollis single. Beckham’s RBI single and Miller’s run-scoring fielder’s choice in the eighth gave the Eagles their final two runs.
GSU freshman right hander Brian Wilkerson will face lefthander Ryan Turner in the series finale today at noon. The game will be televised by CSS.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
Not only did Georgia Southern knock off the 10th-best team in the nation, Georgia Tech, but the Eagles’ 11-4 win was their first home victory over the Yellow Jackets since 1996.
A crowd of more than 2,700, the second-largest in J.I. Clements history, witnessed the victory, which snapped GSU’s 20-game home losing streak to the Jackets.
“It was a great crowd and a good win for our program,” Eagle coach Rodney Hennon said. “They’ve had our number down here, so it’s good to get that monkey off our back. It was a total team effort. We did a lot of good things offensively today, and (starting pitcher) Drew (Murray) had good stuff.”
Sophomore centerfielder Matt Miller had a career-high five RBI, and junior second baseman Jeremy Beckham recorded a game-high three hits as Georgia Southern (2-2) out-hit the Jackets (0-1) 14-6.
Freshman Charlie Strohecker (2-0) got the win in 11⁄3 innings of relief, while senior A.J. Battisto retired eight straight batters in three scoreless innings for his first save this year. Starter David Duncan suffered the loss, allowing six earned runs in five innings.
Beckham and Miller jumped-started the Eagle offense in the first when Beckam slammed a one-out double, stole third and put the home team up 1-0 on Miller’s RBI single. Miller pushed GSU’s lead to 5-0 with a bases-clearing, three-run double down the leftfield line the next inning. Freshman first baseman A.J. Wirnsberger’s first career home run, a solo shot to left, put the Eagles up 6-0 in the third.
“(Miller) took some good swings every at bat today,” Hennon said. “It looked like he was seeing the ball pretty well. A lot of guys contributed today. When we were in some situations where we were in a bind, we executed. Padding the lead was big is those later innings.”
Murray, a sophomore transfer from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, worked his way out of trouble early, striking out the side in the first to escape a one-out bases-loaded jam. He threw three hitless innings before Tech scored three unearned runs with two outs in the fourth to cut GSU’s lead in half, 6-3. Murray allowed four hits and zero earned runs in 42⁄3 innings. He struck out four and walked four.
“(Murray) hurt himself a little bit with base on balls, and we hurt ourselves defensively in the fourth inning,” Hennon said. “If we can cut down on a couple of those mistakes, he’s got a chance to go deeper in the ballgame. Fortunately, we overcame those mistakes. Strohecker did a nice job out of the bullpen, and A.J. did a great job finishing the game.”
Chris Hollis, Griffin Benedict, Phillip Porter, Wirnsberger and Miller had two hits each for Georgia Southern, which added three runs in the sixth on a passed ball and a two-run Hollis single. Beckham’s RBI single and Miller’s run-scoring fielder’s choice in the eighth gave the Eagles their final two runs.
GSU freshman right hander Brian Wilkerson will face lefthander Ryan Turner in the series finale today at noon. The game will be televised by CSS.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
