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Eighth-Inning Rally Lifts Georgia Southern to 4-2 Victory
Box Score
SoCon Tournament Central
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Michael Burruss ripped a two-run triple into the right field corner to lead No. 4 seed Georgia Southern to a 4-2 comeback win over No. 5 seed College of Charleston in the night cap of day one at the 2011 Bennett Hospitality Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by the Carolina Ford Dealers.
Georgia Southern (33-23) will face No. 8 Western Carolina Thursday at 9 p.m. while Charleston (36-21) takes on top-seeded Elon at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.
With two outs and no one on in the bottom of the eighth inning, Eric Phillips singled on a bunt to third and moved to second on a throwing error. After SoCon Player of the Year Victor Roache was hit by a pitch, Steve Cochrane tied the contest by hitting a single up the middle that brought in Phillips. Burruss then delivered the game-winner.
Matt Murray, the coaches' Pitcher of the Year, pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his ninth save of the season.
The Eagles manufactured a run in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Burruss, who was hit by a pitch and moved over to third on a Tom Richardson single, scored on Ben Morgan's ground out to second.
Charleston finally got on the board in the fourth inning when Marty Gantt singled under Steve Cochrane's glove at first base to score Matt Leeds.
Gantt laced a double down the left field line to open the seventh before Jamie Holler brought him home with a single up the middle, staking CofC to a 2-1 advantage.
Due to the 20-inning affair that preceded this game, the first pitch was not thrown until 12:30 a.m. ET. The two-hour, 31-minute contest ended at 3:01 a.m.
GSU starter Chris Beck set a career high and match a SoCon season-high with 13 strikeouts in 8.0 innings on the mound. The sophomore upped his record to 8-4.
The Cougars' Josh Renfro allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out five and falling to 9-3 on the season.
Gantt paced Charleston with a 3-for-4 effort.