Big Inning Puts Georgia Southern Over Trojans

STATESBORO, Ga. – With the series tied at a game apiece heading into Sunday, Little Rock baseball took a 9-2 loss to Georgia Southern in the series finale at J.I. Clements Stadium.
 
Riley Pittman was 1 for 3 with an RBI, and Zach Baker was 1 for 4 with an RBI and a home run. Dalton Thomas had a hit and a run while Cale Ridling had a hit as a pinch hitter.
 
The Eagles' Tyler Martin went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, a home run and two runs while Ryan Cleveland had three RBIs and a home run.
 
Georgia Southern picked up its second consecutive complete game as Chase Cohen (3-3) went the distance with six strikeouts and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk.
 
Trojan starter Chandler Fidel (2-6) took the loss as he threw 4.2 innings, struck out five and allowed six runs on two hits and four walks. Justin Garcia pitched 3.1 innings of relief as he threw four strikeouts and allowed three runs on two hits and a hit-by-pitch.
 
"I thought we got too emotional and frustrated once the game swung in Georgia Southern's direction, and we got away from our plan," Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. "We didn't have the same type of at-bats and approach on the mound that we had earlier in the game when things were looking really good. On the road against a team like Georgia Southern, you can't blink or panic. We have to know they're going to make a run at you."
 
The Trojans took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. After Thomas hit a double to right center, Pittman brought Thomas home with an RBI single to left.
 
After a brief rain delay in the top of the third, Zach Baker belted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for his sixth home run of the season.
 
Georgia Southern cut Little Rock's lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the third with an RBI single back up the middle by C.J. Brazil. That was all the Eagles put across as the Trojans turned 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
 
The Eagles' Martin knotted the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to left.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Georgia Southern put up a big inning with seven runs. The Eagles walked three times before Logan Baldwin walked on a 3-0 count to bring a run home. That was all for Fidel as Justin Garcia came on in relief. Mason McWhorter was then hit by a pitch to plate another run. Martin hit a two-run single through the left side before Cleveland finished the scoring with a three-run homer over the right field wall.
 
"The fifth inning is the one that got us," Curry said. "Five free bases were created with four walks and a hit-by-pitch, and they made us pay by getting the big hit."
 
Ridling got on with a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning, but Cohen kept up the pace and finished off the game for Georgia Southern.
 
With no midweek game scheduled, the Trojans will get right back into Sun Belt Conference action as they travel Mobile, Alabama, for a three-game series at South Alabama beginning on Friday.