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Georgia Southern Shuts Down Western Carolina, 12-1
Box Score
SoCon Tournament Central
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Georgia Southern's offense exploded for 12 runs on 14 hits against Western Carolina in the 12-1 Eagle win in the 2011 Bennett Hospitality Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by the Carolina Ford Dealers.
Georgia Southern (34-23) moves one win away from the SoCon Championship game and will have tomorrow off before returning to the diamond Saturday at 1 p.m. The Eagles will face the winner of the Western Carolina (23-30-1) and College of Charleston game, which will be played tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Eagle starter pitcher Andy Moye (7-1) picked up the win on 8.0 innings of work. Moye gave up only three hits and one earned run with three strikeouts and eight walks on 125 pitches.
Jordan Smith was credited with the loss for the Catamounts to fall to 6-7. Smith pitched 4.2 innings and gave up five runs, four earned, on seven hits and five walks while striking out two Eagles.
The Eagles connected on 14 hits as a team, led by Eric Phillips 3-for-4 night and Steve Cochran's 3-for-6. Phillips scored two runs and knocked in two while Cochran had two RBI on the evening. Despite just registering two official at bats, GSU centerfielder Shawn Payne scored five runs for the Eagles, tying the SoCon tournament record for runs scored by an individual in a game.
Western Carolina's offense scratched out only four hits on the game, as Attaway went 1-for-1 with the only Catamount RBI.
Georgia Southern jumped on the Catamount pitching in the first inning with a run followed by two more runs in the third and fourth innings each to lead 5-0 early. Contributing to the Eagles' runs in the beginning innings were Victor Roache with an RBI and Steve Cochrane with two RBIs.
The Eagles would add three more in the seventh inning when Phillips hit a bases loaded RBI single followed by a two-RBI single from Roache.
Western Carolina would eventually breakthrough in the bottom half of seventh when Aaron Attaway's sacrifice fly to centerfield would plate Luke Gragg for the single Catamount run of the game.
Georgia Southern added insurance from a Phillips RBI triple in the top of ninth to stretch it lead to 9-1. Phillips would come around to score on a wild pitch to push the Eagle run total to double-digits. After two more runs, the Eagles' scoring would conclude at 12.