KENNESAW, Ga. - Despite a valiant comeback effort by the Georgia Southern baseball team, 12 runs put up by the Kennesaw State Owls in the bottom of the first inning was too much to overcome on Wednesday night at Fred Stillwell Stadium.
Kennesaw State (17-18) jumped out to a 12-0 lead after one frame of baseball, but the Eagles (18-19) fought hard to keep the game in reach. Georgia Southern scored six in the top of the second inning, starting with a Sam Blancato RBI-single that plated Blake Evans, followed up with a Jesse Sherrill RBI-single that scored Luke Hatcher. To follow those, Jarrett Brown knocked his ninth homer of the year, this one being a grand slam that cut the Owls lead in half, putting the Eagles behind 12-6.
KSU would score one more run in the home-half of the same inning, but Georgia Southern continued to claw away at the lead, scoring three more in the top of the fourth inning. Noah Ledford scored Sherril on a RBI-double and earned his 202nd-career RBI to tie him at sixth all-time in program history in RBI with Dave Pregon (1982-84) and Mason McWhorter (2017-21). Corey Dowdell scored Brown on a RBI-single, and Evans brought Ledford home on a sac fly to center field, but the scoring would conclude for the night there, setting up the eventual final of 13-9.
Zachary Harris came in relief in the top of the third inning and pitched four scoreless innings, including three strikeouts and zero walks on the night.
UP NEXT
The Eagles will travel to Huntington, West Virginia, to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd for the first time since 2011 and the first time as conference opponents since 1997. First pitch from the Kennedy Center YMCA is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, April 21. There will be no video stream of this weekend's series. Fans are encouraged to keep up with the action with Danny Reed on the Georgia Southern Sports Network, through the Varisty App or on their local radio station that picks up GSSN.
