MONROE, La. – Georgia Southern took the lead with a three-run second inning and broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning to take Friday's series opener over ULM 12-4 at Lou St. Amant Field.
 
Due to potential inclement weather on Sunday, the two teams will conclude the series with a  doubleheader at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lou St. Amant Field.
 
The Eagles (24-21 overall, 13-9 Sun Belt Conference) won their fourth straight game by taking advantage of the bunt game and collecting timely hits.
 
ULM (20-26, 7-15) struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Colby Lunsford and Michelle Artzberger earned back-to-back walks and Shawn Dalton Weatherbee's single to left field loaded the bases. Easton Winfield hit a sacrifice fly to plate Lunsford for the 1-0 lead.
 
Georgia Southern loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the second inning. Cade Parker picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice as he scored Sean White to tie the game at 1. Josh Tate followed with an RBI single on a flare down the right-field line, allowing TJ McKenzie to score. Kent Schmidt added a sacrifice fly to plate Parker for the 3-1 lead.
 
The Eagles pulled away with a four-run fourth inning. Sean Smith opened the inning with a solo home run. Schmidt's RBI single brought in McKenzie, while Blancato earned an RBI, reaching on a sacrifice bunt as the throw to the plate was not in time to get the lead runner on a squeeze. Jarrett Brown capped the inning with an RBI infield single to score Schmidt for a 7-1 advantage.
 
ULM scored a run in the fifth inning on Colby Lunsford's RBI single, but Hasani Johnson was thrown out at home on the play to end the inning. The Warhawks trailed 7-2.
 
ULM picked up two more runs in the seventh inning. Jake Haggard led off with a single and moved to third on Matt Abshire's one-out double. Johnson picked up a 2-RBI single, bringing in Haggard and Abshire, but was thrown out trying to advance to second on the throw to the infield, bringing an end to the Warhawk rally. However, ULM had pulled within three, 7-4.
 
Georgia Southern pulled back away in the final two innings, benefitting from three ULM errors across the two frames to plate five runs. Schmidt, JD Kaiser and White each earned RBIs in the eighth inning, while a pair of two-out walks scored in the ninth on a dropped fly ball.
 
Schmidt led the Eagles with three hits and three RBIs, while White had three hits, including a double, and an RBI. Eight different Eagles drove in a run in the win.
 
Johnson had two hits and two RBIs for ULM, while Abshire had two hits, including a double, and scored twice.
 
Ben Johnson (4-2) earned the win on the mound for Georgia Southern, throwing 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Mitchell Gross threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Joey White threw a scoreless ninth for the Eagles. Cam Barlow (1-4) took the loss for ULM, working into the fourth inning, allowing six runs on seven hits with one strikeout.