STATESBORO, Ga. - UNC Greensboro held a 3-run lead through 4 ½ innings, but Georgia Southern battled back to score six runs over the final four frames as the Spartans fell, 6-4, on Friday evening at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Jake Brown pitched a complete game for the Eagles (12-11, 5-2 Southern Conference) to pick up the win, while giving up four runs, three earned, on seven hits in 134 pitches. Warren Slack was credited with the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of work.
Harry Slade led the Spartans (11-10, 0-4 SoCon) at the plate by going 3-4 and knocked in one runner. Ed Jayjack also had a pair of RBI for UNCG.
Kyle Blackburn went 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored for the Eagles, while Arthur Owens, Steve Cochrane and Michael Burruss also added two hits.
UNCG was the first team to get on the board in the game as the Spartans put up three runs in the top of the third. Zach Leach led off the inning with a walk and Kris Richards hit a single two batters later to put runners on first and second with one out.
After Chris Barker walked to load the bases, Slade hit an infield single on a chopper to the shortstop to score Leach and give UNCG a 1-0 lead. Corey Overholtzer then reached on an error by the second baseman that allowed Richards to score. Jayjack capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Barker to give the Spartans a 3-0 advantage.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth inning when Burruss led off with a double and was able to score two batters later on an RBI single through the right side by Roman Grimaldi to make the score 3-1.
Kevin Bowles led off the sixth inning for the Eagles with a single and Blackburn followed with a home run out to left center that knotted the game at three.
Burruss had another leadoff double in the seventh inning and Grimaldi followed with a walk two batters later. A single through the left side by Owens scored Burruss and Grimaldi scored on a wild pitch to put the Eagles ahead, 5-3.
The Spartans continued to battle as they got one run in the top of the eighth to pull within, 5-4. Barker and Slade led off the inning with back-to-back singles and then Overholtzer reached on a fielder's choice to move Barker to third. Barker scored a batter later on a groundout to make it a one-run game.
Georgia Southern got that run right back in the bottom half of the eighth as Cochrane had a leadoff single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before moving to third on a groundout. Cochrane scored later in the inning on an RBI single through the right side to make the final score, 6-4.
The Spartans and Eagles will play game two of the series on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
AGATE
Georgia Southern 6, UNC Greensboro 4
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UNC Greensboro...... 003 000 010 - 4 7 0 (11-10, 0-4)
Georgia Southern.... 000 012 21X - 6 11 1 (12-11, 5-2)
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Pitchers: UNC Greensboro - Warren Slack; Blake Hassebrock (7) and Ed Jayjack. Georgia Southern - Jake Brown and Michael Burruss.
Win-Jake Brown (4-2) Loss-Warren Slack (1-5) T-2:20 A-1612
HR GSU - Kyle Blackburn.
Weather: 67 with 11 mph wind from NNW
- UNCG -
