The Georgia Southern baseball team bounced back after a rough weekend with a 13-5 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins in the final game at J.I. Clements Stadium this season.
Jacksonville (24-27) got to the board first with two runs in the top of the first inning with two bases-loaded walks, but the Eagles (28-24) responded in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of its own to take the lead. Sam Blancato's three-run home run to left field plated Josh Tate and Kent Schmidt to put the Eagles on top after the first frame.
The second inning saw Southern add a run to its lead with a Schmidt RBI-single to score Cade Parker. In the bottom of the third, back-to-back solo homers by Sean White and Sean Smith to put the lead up to 6-2.
The Dolphins punched back in the top of the fourth inning with a solo homer to cut the lead in half at 6-3.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Southern added two more runs, first from a JD Kaiser RBI-double to plate Tate, then a JAX wild pitch that scored Schmidt. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Blancato added two more RBI to his tally with a two-RBI double, scoring T.J. McKenzie and Parker to inflate the lead to 10-3.
While the Dolphins plated two to cut the lead to 10-5 after the top of the eighth inning, the Eagles continued to battle and add runs, with the bottom of the eighth seeing three more runs cross the plate, first from a wild pitch to score White, then a McKenzie RBI-double to plate Smith and a Schmidt RBI-single to score McKenzie.
Joey White earned his second win of the season after five innings of one-run ball, sitting down two through his appearance. Jacksonville starter Dylan Faulkner took the loss after giving up six runs, five earned, in his two innings.
UP NEXT
Georgia Southern concludes the regular season against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Boone, N.C. Action starts on Thurs.
