STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to claim the first game of the weekend series over ULM, 4-3, Friday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.
 
"We didn't execute when we had to," ULM head coach Michael Federico said. "We left 10 guys on base. They left three. We outhit them in every way, shape and form and they put one inning together. Another big inning in the 6-7-8 that we talk about all the time."
 
The Warhawks (11-15 overall, 3-7 Sun Belt Conference) took the lead in the fourth inning as Danny DeSimone and Trace Henry opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Michael Cervantes reached on an error on his sacrifice bunt to load the bases. After Wiley Cleland struck out and Logan Wurm popped out, Mason Holt came through with two outs and doubled down the right field line, clearing the bases for the 3-0 lead.
 
Georgia Southern (15-13, 5-5) answered in the sixth inning. After having just one hit, an infield single, through the first five innings, the Eagles pounded out five of their six hits for the game in the inning. Mason McWhorter hit a 2-RBI single to bring Georgia Southern within a run at 3-2. An error allowed Christian Avant to reach safely before Noah Ledford's sacrifice fly plated McWhorter to tie the game. Jason Swan followed with a bloop RBI single to left to score Avant for the 4-3 lead.
 
ULM had two more scoring chances. The Warhawks loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning, but Southern's Ben Johnson struck out Trace Henry to end the inning. ULM then had leadoff man Mason Holt walk in the ninth inning and he stole second base, but Nick Jones closed the game with a pair of strikeouts to earn his eighth save for the Eagles.
 
"Good teams find ways to win games, especially one run games, and bad teams find ways to lose them," Federico said. "We do this a lot. We're trying to get away from being this bad team that we can't execute some of those little things. It's frustrating. I know our guys are trying. We're playing hard. We put fear into people. They better show up and play us. But, at the same time, we have got to find a way to win those games."
 
Ty Barnes threw just 53 pitches in 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits with four strikeouts.
 
"What an outstanding start he gave us," Federico said. "It was Ty's birthday today. I was really excited for him with his last time to pitch and have his birthday."
 
Landon Longsworth (0-2) suffered the loss, allowing an unearned run on two hits over the final 2 2/3 innings.
 
Tyler Owens (4-0) earned his fourth-consecutive victory for Georgia Southern, throwing six innings with three runs, all unearned, on eight hits and six strikeouts.
 
Andrew Beesley led ULM with three hits, including a double. Danny DeSimone and Trace Henry had two hits each.
 
ULM and Georgia Southern continue the series at 2 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. CDT Saturday in Statesboro. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.