STATESBORO, Ga. – A Will Hudgins sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth propelled the Georgia Southern Eagles to a 9-8 win and series sweep over the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats during the opening weekend for both teams at J. I. Clements Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.
With one out, Aaron Mizell reached first for GS on a fielding error, before advancing to second on a base hit, and third after Ryan Cleveland was hit by a pitch. A shallow fly ball down the right field line was enough to score Mizell from third, giving the Eagles the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.
GS led 7-0 after the second inning and was up 7-1 after the sixth.
To open the seventh, Zach Olszewski singled to shortstop giving the Wildcats their first base runner of the inning. A Demetrius Sims single through the left side moved Olszewski into scoring position.
A GS fielding error loaded the bases for B-CU during Jake Welch's at bat before Brandon Wilkes singled to third, scoring Olszewski, started the Wildcats scoring rally.
Jordan Robinson's RBI groundout to third scored Sims, then after a Nathan Bond walk, Austin Garcia singled to center field, scoring two Cats and B-CU closed the Eagles gap after a four-run, five-hit inning cut the GS lead to 7-5.
After two outs in the top of the eighth, a Robinson single, followed by back-to-back doubles from Bond and Garcia, knotted the contest at eight.
The Eagles answered in the bottom of the frame, pulling ahead by one, and the Wildcats were unable to answer in the final frame as Georgia Southern completed the weekend series sweep.
Chris Brown (1-0) picked up the win after the Eagles broke the tie, allowing three runs on four hits and pitching a perfect ninth inning.
Clint Clymer (0-1) suffered his first loss of the season for B-CU out of the bullpen, giving up one earned run on three hits and a walk.
Sims led the offense for the Wildcats finishing with a game-best three hits and two runs.
B-CU returns to the diamond, Tuesday, Feb. 17 as the Wildcats stay in-state, traveling to UCF for a 6:30 p.m., first pitch in Orlando.
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