Statesboro, Ga. -- Georgia Southern scored in every inning but the second inning on the way to downing VMI 13-6 on Saturday at Clements Stadium.

Georgia Southern (18-9, 7-3 Southern Conference) exploded for five runs in the first inning. The first four Eagles to the plate laced base hits, with Carlos Love and Grant Burruss driving in the first two runs of the game. After a strikeout, Matt Hammond smacked a base hit to make the score 3-0. Brent Stephens followed and reached on an error, chasing home two more runners to stake GSU starter Brian Harrison to a 5-0 lead.

VMI (9-15, 6-5 Southern Conference) scored its five runs over the course of three innings. Matt Smith (Chesapeake, Va. / Great Bridge) and Justin Briggs (Rustburg, Va. / Rustburg) slapped back-to-back base hits to cut the Eagles lead to 5-2 in the third. The Keydets added two more in the fourth after Kelly Sweppenhiser (Herndon, Pa. / Line Mountain) and Elliott Erbe (Portsmouth, Va. / Western Branch) began the inning with back-to-back doubles and scored on a wild pitch and a Jason Annis (Placentia, Calif. / Valencia) single. Briggs singled home VMI's fifth run in the fifth with one out.

The Eagles scored runs at least one run from the third inning to the seventh frame. Rocky Baker collected an RBI in the third on a base hit and another on a groundout in the fifth, while Adam DeLoach drove in two runs on a single in the sixth. Brendan Gilligan plated Baker in the bottom of the eighth with a double to close the scoring.

Scott Tolbert earned the win, pitching 3 2/3 innings in relief and striking out four. With Tolbert's punch out of Brandon Massenburg (Prince George, Va. / Prince George) in the sixth inning, the Eagles pitching staff tallied its 300th strikeout of the season. Brandon Woods pitched a scoreless ninth, fanning two batters.
Gilligan and Burruss tallied three hits to lead the Eagles, while Jon Wade (Marietta, Ga. / Harrison) earned three hits for the Keydets.

"You're not going to have a chance to win a game when you have seven errors," noted VMI head coach Tom Slater. "Phil Hendrix came out and battled hard today. I'm disappointed that we wasted a good start from him."

Georgia Southern and VMI complete the three-game set tomorrow at Clements Stadium. First pitch is set for 1:30 pm.

Courtesy of the Georgia Southern Sports Information Department