The Georgia Southern baseball team outlasted the UCF Knights and prevailed in a 11-8 contest on Sunday afternoon at John Euliano Park. The win gave the Eagles the series victory over the Knights, as well as the Eagles' first road series win this season.
UCF (8-3) got on the board first thanks to a two-RBI single to center field in the bottom of the first inning, but the Eagles (7-4) would not stay down long, scoring six in the top of the second inning to take a strong 6-2 lead. The top of the second inning was led off with Noah Ledford's second home run of the weekend, launching the ball to right field, while the other five runs were scored from a Blake Evans RBI-single, JC Peacher sacrifice bunt, Jesse Sherril RBI-single, and a Sam Blancato two-RBI single.
UCF would plate three more runs in the bottom of the third inning to close the gap, but Georgia Southern would scored in the top of the fourth inning when a hit by Sam Blancato in conjuction with an error by the UCF center fielder would bring Jarrett Brown and JC Peacher home, bringing the Eagles up 8-5. GS would continue to add to the lead in the top of the sixth inning when a double play allowed Peacher to score. In the top of the seventh inning, Evans tallied another RBI thanks to an RBI-single that scored Zane Faulk. With the bases loaded, Sherrill was his by the first pitch he saw, which brought JD Kaiser home.
The Knights would try to threaten in the bottom of the seventh with a solo homer, but the Eagles shut down the Knights before any more damage could be done that inning. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Knights belted a two-run homer to left center, now only down 11-8. Jay Thompson was able to get the final two batters to fly out to right and center field, shutting down the Knights, earning his third save of the season, and earning the Eagles the series victory.
Thomas Ross earned his first victory of the season with a statline of 3.1 innings pitched, one hit, no runs, one walk and one strikeout. UCF starter Cameron Leiter took his first loss of the season.
Quick Hits
- JC Peacher had a perfect 3-for-3 day, scoring two runs and tallying an RBI.
- Georgia Southern totalled seven strikeouts between four pitchers; Zachary Harris had three, Thomas Ross and Will Robbins both had one, and Ga'von Wray had two.
- Noah Ledford tallied six hits, four runs, and nine total RBI during the series.
- This is the first time the Eagles have won a series against UCF. The two have only played two series against each other ever. The all-time series is now 4-4.
Up Next
The Eagles will play five games in the next seven days, first at SRP Park against Georgia on March 7, before hosting UGA at J.I. Clements Stadium on March 8. After that, the Eagles will host Rutgers for a three-game series from March 10-12.
