Box Score (PDF)

STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern scored six unanswered runs to defeat the University of South Alabama baseball team 8-5 Friday to open Sun Belt Conference play.

USA (9-9, 0-1 SBC) held a three-run lead after four frames, but the Eagles outscored the Jags 6-0 over the final four-and-a-half innings in the victory. 

Jacob Condra-Bogan (1-0) tossed 3 2/3 scoreless relief innings, and allowed four hits with three strikeouts and one walk. Jaguar right-hander Randy Bell (0-2) allowed four earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 6 2/3 innings. Landon Hughes struck out one in one scoreless inning to earn his first save of the season.

USA loaded the bases with one out in the top of the second before plating the first run of the game. Wells Davis reached on a one-out single to right field, and advanced to second on a fielder's choice off the bat of Brendan Donovan following a throwing error by Eagle first baseman Ryan Cleveland on the play. Dylan Hardy followed with a single to left field to load the bases. Hunter Stokes then lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Davis with the game's first run.

The Eagles responded with a pair of runs to take a one-run lead in the bottom of the third. C.J. Brazil led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Evan McDonald. Mitchell Golden followed with a two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Brazil and tie the game 1-1. Mason McWhorter then delivered an RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate Golden for a 2-1 advantage. 

South Alabama answered with four runs in the top of the fourth to take a three-run lead. Davis led off the inning with a single to left field, and advanced to third on a single to right field by Donovan. Hardy followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Davis and tie the game 2-2. Stokes then reached on a bunt single down the third-base line to load the bases with no outs. Andrew Cash followed with a walk to force home Donovan and give the Jags a 3-2 lead. Travis Swaggerty later delivered a two-out, two-run single back up the middle to extend the USA lead to 5-2.

Georgia Southern (10-7, 1-0 SBC) cut the Jaguar lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double off the left field wall by Ryan Cleveland. Jordan Wren delivered a sacrifice fly to center field later in the inning to plate Cleveland and cut the USA advantage to 5-4. 

USA threatened in the top of the seventh but did not push across a run. Eddie Paparella reached on a one-out single back up the middle, and advanced to second on a single to right field by Davis. Dylan Hardy followed with a two-out single to center field, but Logan Baldwin fired to the plate to cut down Paparella at the plate with the final out of the frame.

The Eagles plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run error on a dropped fly ball by Hardy in left field to take a 6-5 lead. 

A balk by Jaguar right-hander Alex Adair in the bottom of the eighth inning with runners at the corners and one out plated an Eagle run to extend the Georgia Southern lead to 7-5. Steven Curry followed with an RBI single to left field to score the game's final run.

Golden went 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored to lead the Eagles at the plate. Hardy finished with a career-high three hits, along with one RBI and one run scored to lead the Jaguars offensively

"I thought the turning point was when (Jacob) Condra-Bogan came in with the bases loaded," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "If we could have scratched two more (runs) out of that, it probably changes the ballgame but it didn't happen. Our guys competed; we swung the bats well. I thought Randy (Bell) was solid tonight – he competed. We let it get away from us there at the end. We made two unfortunate defensive miscues that led to some crooked numbers. Georgia Southern's guys did a nice job coming out of the bullpen; they are very good. Our guys fought and competed tonight, but just came up a little bit short.

"We have two-thirds of the series left; there is a lot of baseball left to be played. You keep going hard, doing the right things and playing the game the right way, and sooner or later it goes your way. But you have to make that happen with effort, concentration and competitiveness. I told the guys that there is a lot of baseball left to be played this weekend, you just have to keep playing hard and be ready when the game comes back to you."

The series will continue with game two Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (CT), which will be broadcast by ESPN3 and available via WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app.

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

Join the Dugout Club, the baseball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members enjoy all games from inside the Stadium Club with climate control, private restrooms, private concessions and access to listen to the radio broadcast. All donations to the Dugout Club go directly to support the South Alabama baseball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/dugoutclub.