The Wofford Terriers scored six unanswered runs over the last two innings to put a scare into the Georgia Southern Eagles, but Kyle Kamppi retired each of the three batters he saw in the ninth to help GSU hold on for an 11-9 win Friday at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Trailing 10-2, the Terriers (17-30, 7-20 Southern Conference) were able to get one back in the top of the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Neil Robinette and James Foster and five more in the bottom of the eighth on the Eagles’ bullpen.

Relief pitcher Michael Hester struck out Kyle Behrendt to lead off the inning, but a double, a walk and an infield single loaded the bases.

“The biggest thing was the walks,” said GSU coach Rodney Hennon. “You can’t afford to walk people and that leads to big innings. We had a few walks in that win, and granted (Wofford got its) hits, and you can live with that more-so than the walks, but that led to a big inning and got them back in the ballgame.”

Josh McKinney drove in a run with an infield single before Charles Matthews came in out of the bullpen. Mac Doyle walked in a run and a Robinette single drove in another. David Roney popped out to Pierce before James Foster walked in a run to cut the GSU lead to 11-7.

Dexter Bobo came in, allowed an RBI single to Behrendt before striking out Michael Gilmartin to prevent further damage.

Bobo gave up a solo shot to Konstantine Diamaduros in the top of the ninth before Kyle Kamppi came in to sit down all three batters he faced.

“He’s our most experienced guy out there,” Hennon said. “He’s been there plenty of times, so he came in and gave our team a big lift, shut off the (Wofford) momentum and finished the game.”

Chris Mederos (10-1) got the start for the Eagles (36-15, 18-8), allowing two earned runs on seven hits and striking out 11 Terriers while walking one.

The 11 strikeouts were a career high for Mederos, and also marked the first time a GSU pitcher fanned double-digit batters since Everett Teaford struck out 12 on May 12, 2006 against Appalachian State.

Mederos says it’s the GSU bats that keep him at the top of his game.

“Anyone who goes out there we know is going to do the job,” Mederos said. “I don’t worry about giving up runs because my team’s going to back me up no matter what. It’s good pitching for this team because of that.”

A six-run fourth helped the Eagles put the game out of reach.

Leading 4-2, Kyle Blackburn (4-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R) and A.J. Wirnsberger (4-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) hit back-to-back home runs, Phillip Porter and Roman Grimaldi had RBI singles and Griffin Benedict grounded in a run to give GSU a 10-2 lead.

Wofford starter Scott Summers was pulled in the inning after following the back-to-back long balls by hitting Eric Phillips with the first pitch of the at-bat.

Summers left after pitching 3 2-3 innings, allowing 10 earned runs on nine Eagle hits. He walked five and didn’t strike out any.

GSU tacked on its 11th run in the bottom of the sixth.

Blackburn and Wirnsberger led off the frame with back-to-back singles, and Brian Pierce reached on a one-out bunt single to load the bases.

Grimaldi drove in Blackburn with a sacrifice fly.

The Eagles took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the second when Blackburn scored on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Brian Pierce that made it 1-0, but Wofford answered with two in the top of the third.

With runners on second and third and one out, Eric Phillips couldn’t handle a Michael Gilmartin grounder at first, and both runners in scoring position scored as the ball trickled into right.

Phillips redeemed himself on the next at-bat when Diamaduros launched a grounder down the first-base line that Phillips gloved. He got the force out at first and nailed Diamaduros at second for the inning-ending double play.

Georgia Southern got a lead it wouldn’t relinquish with three more in the bottom of the third.

Blackburn walked in a run with the bases loaded to tie the score at 2-2 and a two-run, bases-loaded single to left by Wirnsberger gave the Eagles a 4-2 lead.

Action resumes today for game two of the three game series at 2:30 p.m.

Notes: With the loss, Wofford became ineligible for the eight-team, Southern Conference Tournament field. … A GSU win today would secure the Eagles the No.2 seed in the SoCon Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greenville, S.C.

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