GREENSBORO, NC Three UNC Greensboro errors turned into five unearned runs and Georgia Southern scored four runs in the ninth inning to pull away late for an 11-6 win on Sunday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The two teams were only able to get in one of the three games scheduled for this weekend due to rain.
Jonathan King went 2-3 with two RBI and three runs scored to help lead the Eagles (13-2, 1-0) at the plate.
Freshman Trevor Edwards had two RBI to highlight the day for the Spartans (2-9, 0-4) and sophomore Ray Quinones added two doubles and an RBI.
After rain continued to fall all morning, the start of the game was pushed back until 3:45. The Eagles immediately went to work and turned back-to-back UNCG errors into an early 4-0 lead.
With two outs and a runner on second, Ty Wright reached on an error after Kris Richards' throw forced first baseman Ed Jayjack off the base. With runners on the corners, A.J. Wirnsberger hit another ground ball to Richards who threw it over the head of Jayjack, which put runners on second and third and made the score 1-0. Jonathan King followed with a single to make it 2-0 and a wild pitch and a double by Georgia Southern would make the score 4-0 after the top of the first inning.
The Spartans refused to go down without a fight as they got a run of their own in the bottom half of the first. With two outs, Quinones hit his first double of the game and narrowed the score to, 4-1, after Edwards hit a RBI single to right field.
UNCG trimmed the Eagle lead to 4-2 after Joey Frabasile reached on a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Pedro Leon.
After Spartan starter Greg Martin settled down in the second and third inning he ran into more trouble in the fourth inning. With one down, Will Southwell was hit by a pitch and Brian Pierce followed with a home run that just cleared the right field wall to push the Georgia Southern lead to 6-2.
Once again the Spartans fought back to narrow the lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth. Alex Frederick and Leon led off the inning with a pair of singles before an Eagle double play left only Frederick on third with two down in the inning. Quinones stepped to the plate and hit his second double of the game to score Frederick from third. Quinones would later score on another Edwards single to right field to make the score 6-4 after five innings.
The Eagles would score one again in the top of the sixth inning to go ahead 7-4 thanks to another Spartan error. King led off the inning with a walk and stole second before advancing to third on a groundout. King would later score from third after a fielding error by UNCG.
UNCG again rallied in the bottom half of the inning to bring the score within 7-6. Jayjack got on first with a leadoff single and moved to second after Frabasile was hit by a pitch. The two runners advanced to second and third thanks to a wild pitch. Michael Wall was up next and reached first on a fielder's choice after the first baseman fielded a ground ball and threw home to try to catch Jayjack scoring from third. His throw was just a little late and the Spartans pulled to within 7-5. Frabasile would score on the next play when Frederick gounded out to second base.
After a scoreless seventh and eighth inning, the Eagles pulled away in the ninth inning to make the final score 11-6. Georgia Southern hit two singles and a double in the ninth and took advantage of two walks to score the four runs.
UNCG returns to the diamond on Tuesday evening as the Spartans kick off a two-game series with Lafayette. The two teams will play at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
AGATE
Georgia Southern 11, UNC Greensboro 6
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Georgia Southern......400 201 004 - 11 9 0 (13-2)
UNC Greensboro.......110 022 000 - 6 11 3 (2-9)
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Pitchers: UNC Greensboro Greg Martin, Rob Gilliam, Greg Smith. Georgia Southern Chris Mederos, Charles Matthews, Kyle Kamppi, Dexter Bobo.
Win- Chris Mederos (4-0) Loss- Greg Martin (0-3) T-3:02 A-116
HR: Georgia Southern Brian Pierce (2).
- UNCG -
