Three Georgia Southern home runs highlighted an offensive explosion by the Eagles against the College of Charleston Cougars as the Eagles evened the season series on Tuesday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.
College of Charleston (14-9) led off with a solo jack by Will Baumhofer to start the game at 1-0, but the Eagles (12-12) responded in a big way in the home half of the first inning, with Jarrett Brown giving the Eagles the lead with a two-run blast down the left field line. Later in the inning, Sean White knocked an RBI-double down the left field line, scoring JD Kaiser, who was called safe after a review at the plate. The scoring in the first inning concluded when Jonathan Jaime hit an RBI-double to left-center field, scoring White and leading 4-1 after one frame of action.
In the bottom of the second inning, it was Sam Blancato's RBI-single through the right side of the infield that scored Josh Tate to be the lone score of the inning. In the next inning, the Eagles would put up four more runs starting with a Kaiser solo bomb to straight-away center, his fourth home run in the previous five games. Jaime, Cade Parker, and Blancato all knocked RBI-doubles to score White, Jaime, and Parker, respectively, to stretch the lead to 9-1. Blancato's RBI-double in the third inning brought home his 99th-career RBI, needing just one to hit the century mark.
The Cougars started to threaten the Eagles lead in the top of the fifth inning, when a fouled off sacrifice fly to the first baseman scored an unearned Cole Singsank run. In the top of the sixth inning, Trotter Harlan reached on an Eagle error that scored Dylan Johnson, the Cougars' second unearned run of the evening.
Kent Schmidt scored the Eagles' lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring on a double play. In the home half of the seventh inning, Parker's second homer of the season also brought home pinch runner Luke Odden to set the score at 12-3, one run shy of a run-rule victory. Schmidt reached first base on a throwing error by the Cougars' catcher, giving Blancato enough time to reach home and represent the final run of the game, ending the contest in seven innings at 13-3.
Cameron Oliu earned his first victory of his Georgia Southern career after a two inning outing, only surrendering a single hit with no runs, fanning three batters. Hayden Thomas took the loss after surrendering the lead early on, which the Cougars never recovered from.
Blancato and White both ended the night with three hits each, while White scored two runs to Blancato's one. Parker ended 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored of his own. Other Eagles with multiple hits include Tate, Brown, and Jaime.
UP NEXT
Georgia Southern ventures to Jonesboro, Arkansas, for the first time since 2021 to take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves. Action from Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field is set to begin Friday night at 7 p.m. ET.
