STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern scored in each of the first five innings and never looked back here Saturday night, using that big early outburst to take an 11-5 victory over Texas State in the second semifinal of the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championships.
The fifth-seeded and tournament host Eagles (38-20) scored twice in the first inning to answer a two-run first frame from the Bobcats, and then added three more in the second, two in the fourth and three in the fifth in their second double-figure scoring output in the last three games.
The win puts Georgia Southern into Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship game against third-seeded South Alabama (38-19), who took a 4-2 win over Arkansas State in Saturday’s first semifinal. The title game at GSU’s J. I. Clements Stadium matches the teams who lost in the championship game in each of the past two seasons.
The Eagles got a stellar relief pitching performance from sophomore right-hander Brian Eichhorn, who came on after starter Chase Cohen gave up three hits to the first five Texas State hitters. Eichhorn (3-5) scattered seven hits over six and one-third innings, allowing three runs and striking out eight in a 106-pitch performance.
The eighth-seeded Bobcats (29-30), who had upset number one seed Coastal Carolina in Friday’s quarterfinal round, took an early 2-0 lead off Cohen when Jonathan Ortega had a one-out single and Theodore Hoffman followed two batters later with a two-run homer to left field. That was one of three hits for Hoffman, who also had an RBI single in the third inning.
By then, though, Georgia Southern had answered. Ryan Cleveland had a two-run homer in the bottom of the first after Bobcat starter Cam Baird (1-8) walked Tyler Martin with two outs. One inning later, the Eagles made it 5-2 on a single by Evan McDonald, a throwing error that allowed Steven Curry to reach base and score McDonald, a single from Logan Baldwin and a two-run double from Martin that chased Baird.
Georgia Southern made it 6-3 in the third off reliever Brandon Lewis when Mason McWhorter drew a one-out walk and eventually scored on C. J. Brazil’s sacrifice fly. Curry and Baldwin then walked to lead off the fourth inning and Curry scored on a wild pitch, and reliever Brayden Theriot gave up an RBI single to Jordan Wren that made it 8-3.
The Eagles upped the margin to 11-3 on a walk, a hit batsman, an error and Baldwin’s third of his four hits in the game.
Texas State tried to battle back in the seventh with singles from Luke Sherley, Derek Scheible, Ortega, and an RBI double from Ryan Newman, but Eichhorn speared a ripped line drive off the bat of Hoffman for the final out of the inning. Eagle reliever Ryan Frederick retired six of the seven batters he faced in the final two innings.