Davidson Holds Off Georgia Southern for 7-6 Victory

Sunday, April 20

Davidson, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Davidson College

Georgia Southern

Davidson hosts Duke Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Davidson Holds Off Georgia Southern for 7-6 Victory

4/20/2008 3:14:10 PM | Baseball

Marc Gignac

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Hugh Eden drove in Tommy Piacenza with a single to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and help lift Davidson to a 7-6 SoCon baseball victory over Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon at Wilson Field.

Matt Ray ignited the rally with a single, and Brett Shore single with one out put runners on first and third. Eden's single gave the 'Cats a 5-4 lead, and Zach Kayne followed with an RBI single. Danny Weiss capped the rally with a sacrifice fly that plated Eden and made the score 7-4.

Georgia Southern loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth and pushed two runs across. With runners on the corners and one out, Matt Webb induced a 6-4-3 double play from Eagle leftfielder Chris Shehan, who had three hits on the afternoon including a homer, to end the game.

Brant West gave up just six hits and three earned runs while striking out two in a quality start for Davidson (10-24, 2-13 SoCon). Andy Moye gave up five hits and two runs while fanning six for Georgia Southern (20-18, 7-8 SoCon).

Shore finished the game 4-for-4 and scored two runs, and Kayne was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Webb, who started the game at shortstop, got the victory on the hill and went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI from the plate.

Trailing 4-2, the Wildcats rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. Shore led off with a single, and Kayne's one-out single put runners at first and third.

Weiss plated a run with a sacrifice fly, and Chase FitzPatrick put runners at second and third with a two-out double down the left field line. Webb followed by smacking a ball down the third-base line, where A.J. Wirnsberger made a diving stop but couldn't get the sophomore at first as Kayne scored the tying run.

Chris FitzPatrick led of the second inning with a walk, and Webb followed with a double. Sam Payne scored a run with a one-out single, and Piacenza drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to give Davidson a 2-0 lead.

The Eagles came back with four runs in the top of the third. Brian Pierce was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Kevin Bowles followed with a double. After Ty Wright plated a run with a sacrifice fly, Shehan drilled a two-run homer with two outs to make the score 3-2. Jeremiah Parker added an RBI double after Griffin Benedict reached on an error, leaving the margin at 4-2.

The Wildcats return to action Wednesday, April 23, when they host Duke at Wilson Field. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.