It was just what the doctor ordered for the Georgia Southern Eagles.

After dropping back-to-back Southern Conference series to The Citadel and Furman, the Eagles (35-14, 17-8) got a three-game sweep on the road at Samford.

Not only was it the first road sweep for GSU, it was also the first time this season taking both games of a doubleheader, beating the Bulldogs 8-2 and 10-4 Saturday to take the first two games of the series.

Although the Eagles trailed 4-3 in the top of the ninth in game two, some unexpected power from Brian Pierce and Kevin Bowles helped spark a seven-run rally to seal the win.

“I joked with them after the game — ‘You don’t need to try to be Hank Aaron now,’” said GSU coach Rodney Hennon about the homers. The pair had hit three combined long balls throughout the season leading up to that point. “It was good to come back like that in the ninth.”

The bullpen, which had allowed 15 runs in five innings of work in the three-game series against the Paladins, pitched eight innings against Samford allowing no runs on just three hits as the Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 34-9.

“It was good to have a week off (due to finals last week),” Hennon said. “I think everyone was focused and we executed as a team.”

Elon (36-14, 23-4) clinched a No. 1 seed heading into the tournament as it completed a three-game sweep of Western Carolina, outscoring the Catamounts 37-19 on its way to securing its second-straight, regular-season crown over the weekend. The Phoenix completed their SoCon schedule with the series.

They host High Point today in conclusion of their season.

Western dropped four spots in the conference standings after the sweep — from second to fifth — giving Georgia Southern a one-game lead in the race for the No. 2 seed.

The Catamounts travel to Davidson to complete their SoCon schedule after a Wednesday matchup on the road at High Point, while the Eagles host Wofford as they attempt to defend second place this weekend.

Today, GSU takes on Auburn in a non-conference matchup on the road.

The Tigers (28-24, 9-18 Southeastern Conference) are 4-4 against the SoCon this season. They dropped two out of three to Elon, swept a two-game series with Davidson and split a pair of games with Samford.

They have lost 10 of their last 13, including three-game sweeps by Mississippi and Louisiana State.

“I think we still need to take it one game at a time,” said Hennon. “Auburn has played one of the toughest schedules in all of college baseball this season not just with their SEC schedule but with the non-conference teams they’ve played as well.”

First pitch between Auburn and GSU is scheduled for 7 p.m. Andy Moye will get the start for the Eagles.

Notes: The Southern Conference’s top seven — Elon, GSU, Charleston, The Citadel, WCU, Appalachian State and Davidson — have clinched a spot in the Southern Conference Tournament field. UNC Greensboro is the only team mathematically eliminated from the tournament, and Samford, Furman and Wofford are fighting for the eighth and final spot. Samford has completed its regular-season schedule and needs a GSU sweep over Wofford and a Greensboro sweep over Furman to get in. Furman is in with two wins over UNCG, and Wofford is in with a sweep of GSU and two Furman losses. … Georgia Southern’s season finale at home Sunday against Wofford will be televised regionally by CSS at 1:30 p.m.

Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9404.