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SAN MARCOS, Texas – Georgia Southern right-hander Brian Eichhorn combined with two Eagle relievers to shut out the No. 2 seed University of South Alabama baseball team Saturday in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Bobcat Ballpark.

Eichorn (6-2) tossed 7 1/3 innings and allowed six hits with four strikeouts to earn his sixth win of the season. Jaguar right-hander Austin Bembnowski (6-4) also tossed 7 1/3 innings pitched, and allowed two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk in the loss.

Sixth-seeded Georgia Southern (36-23) pushed across the game's first run in the bottom of the second. Hunter Thomas led off the inning with a single to right-center field, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cal Baker. An infield single to shortstop with one out by CJ Ballard put runners at the corners with one out. Kent Rollins then executed a safety squeeze to score Thomas with the game's first run.

The Eagles added the game's final runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out, three-run home run by Jordan Wren.

Brendan Donovan tied a career high with four hits, finishing 4-for-4 with one double, to lead South Alabama at the plate. Cole Billingsley went 2-for-4, and Matt Bolger and Danny Martinez added one hit each. Wren finished 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and one run scored to lead Georgia Southern offensively.

"We got eight hits against a good pitching staff," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "We actually out-hit them (Georgia Southern), but we weren't able to get the hit. Two or three times we were a single away from scoring two runs; we had men in scoring position but we couldn't get the hit. That's what hurt us today. (Austin) Bembnowski was fantastic, and we played very good defense behind him again like we have done all year. The story was just not being able to deliver that blow. It's frustrating, but it's not like our guys weren't trying to do it or giving at-bats away. I credit Georgia Southern's pitchers for doing a nice job. We just didn't get the big hit. When you're in tournament play, you have to play complete baseball especially in the quarterfinals or at the end like this. You have to maximize your opportunities, and we didn't maximize our opportunities at all today. I was proud of the way our guys fought offensively and defensively, and I am proud of their effort."

The loss eliminated the Jags from the SBC Tournament. USA (40-20) will now wait to see if receives an at-large bid to play in an NCAA Regional. The NCAA Selection Show will air live on ESPNU Mon., May 30, at 11 a.m.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).