STATESBORO, Ga. – Jordan Wren’s RBI double in the top of the 11th inning plated the eventual winning run and Georgia Southern rallied for a wild 7-6 win over Louisiana here Friday night in the final quarterfinal of the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championships.
The three-time defending tournament champion Ragin’ Cajuns led 5-1 going to the ninth inning before the Eagles (37-20) put up five runs off three pitchers in the ninth. Logan Baldwin provided the final four of those runs with a one-out grand-slam home run that gave fifth-seeded Georgia Southern a 6-5 lead.
Louisiana tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with an unearned run, but Wren’s double scored Baldwin with the game-winner and Seth Shuman (8-0) retired the Cajuns (35-21-1) in order in the bottom of the 11th.
The win propelled the Eagles into Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal against Texas State, a surprise 7-5 winner over top-seeded Coastal Carolina in Friday’s earlier quarterfinal game.
Louisiana appeared headed for a win that would put the Cajuns one step closer to a record fourth straight Sun Belt tournament title, with two runs in the second inning on Handsome Monica’s two-run homer and two more in the sixth on Brad Antchak’s solo shot and an RBI single by Brenn Conrad that provided the 5-1 bulge.
At that point, Louisiana starter and Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Gunner Leger had checked the Eagles on six hits and one run while fanning seven through seven innings, and all-league reliever Wyatt Marks struck out three of the four batters he faced in the eighth.
However, Cajun reliever Dylan Moore gave up a walk to Mason McWhorter, a single to Mitchell Gordon, a walk to C. J. Brazil and an RBI single to Evan McDonald without recording an out in the ninth that cut the margin to 5-2. Reliever Colten Schmidt got a strikeout before Baldwin sent an 0-1 pitch over the 25-foot right field wall for his fourth homer of the year to clear the bases.
In the bottom of the ninth, though, Louisiana loaded the bases off reliever Jacob Condra-Bogan, and shortstop McDonald mishandled Alex Pinero’s ground ball that allowed Joe Robbins to score the tying run. McDonald was able to chase down the bobble and throw out pinch runner Jam Williams at the plate to end the inning and send the game into extra innings.
Both teams had threats in the 10th, but Baldwin led off the 11th with a single off Cajun reliever Evan Guillory (4-3). C. J. Ballard moved him up with a sacrifice bunt, Ryan Cleveland was walked to load the bases and Wren delivered a double in the right-center gap to score Baldwin.
The Cajuns had rocked Georgia Southern starter Evan Challenger early, with Kennon Fontenot’s first-inning RBI single plating Steven Sensley for an early 1-0 lead and Monica’s fifth homer of the year chasing Challenger in the second inning and making it 3-0.
The Eagles got one back in the fourth on Martin’s solo homer, the only run allowed by Leger, but Antchak answered that with his one-out homer in the sixth. Monica followed with a single and scored on Conrad’s RBI single to left for the 5-1 lead.