Eagles Take Two From Samford 2-1 and 6-3

BIRMINGHAM. Ala. - Georgia Southern Softball opened Southern Conference play with a pair of victories over Samford on Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Field. GSU won the opener 2-1 behind 14 strikeouts from Sarah Purvis. In the second game, GSU rallied from an early deficit to take a 6-3 win, pounding out 12 hits in the contest.

"It is great to open league play with a pair of wins," said Head Coach Annie Smith. "In the second game today we battled back from adversity and I feel like we were good in all aspects of the game. Our bats came alive today and we're going to try to keep that going as our road trip continues."

-GAME ONE-

The Eagles (12-7, 2-0 SoCon) drew first blood in the first frame with a two out rally. Andrea Tarashuk (Flemington, N.J.) produced the last of three-straight singles that scored Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) from third base. The run gave GSU an early 1-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, TabbyDouberley's (Clyo, Ga.) two-out single through the right side pushed pinch runner Breanna McLendon (Soperton, Ga.) in to score the Eagles second run of the game. McLendon rounded third and slid into the Samford (4-15, 0-2 SoCon) catcher who had received the relay throw in time, but was unable to hold on to the ball.

The Bulldogs got to starting pitcher Sarah Purvis (Warner Robins, Ga.) in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a run following a leadoff single. The tying run would reach second base, but Purvis would strikeout the final batter for her 14th strikeout of the game and a 2-1 Georgia Southern victory.

Purvis improved to 6-3 with the win and has tallied 30 strikeouts over the last two appearances. She allowed just four hits and the one run while not walking a Samford batter.

-GAME TWO-

The Eagles opened up game two with another dose of two-out lightning. Tarashuk dropped a Texas Leaguer into centerfield, allowing Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) to scamper home for an early 1-0 Georgia Southern advantage.

Samford answered in the second inning as Misha Aldridge poked a home run over the fence in centerfield. The two-run homer gave the Bulldogs a 2-1lead, their first advantage of the series. It was also the first time the Eagles had trailed since February 26th, a span of nearly two weeks.

Ennis nearly leveled the scores on the second pitch in the third frame, hitting a mammoth ball to left field. The ball looked destined to bounce off the scoreboard until the Bulldog outfielder hauled in the dying ball which was held up by the wind.

In the fourth inning, the Eagles validated a leadoff single by Savanah Coon (Appling, Ga.) with an RBI double from Douberley. The run brought the teams level at 2-2 with Douberley stranded on second base to end the inning.

Samford scored again in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead, but the Eagles answered again in the fifth inning. An RBI single by Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) scored pinch runner McLendon and put Fogle on third base before Williams was caught in a rundown. Fogle, however, was stranded at third to end the inning as the game was tied 3-3.

An inning later, Kaitlyn Johnson (Fayetteville, Ga.) crushed her first career home run to left field giving the Eagles a 4-3 lead. It was the first home run of the day for the Eagles who have now hit 12 team home runs.

Georgia Southern tacked on insurance runs in the seventh when Tarashuk logged her third RBI of the game on a single down the line to right to score Ennis. A double to the wall by Coon allowed Tarashuk to beat the relay throw for a 6-3 Eagle advantage.

Freshman Brooke Red (Warner Robins, Ga.) picked up her fourth victory of the season against no losses, throwing 4.1 innings in relief. She struck out five while allowing four hits in the appearance. Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) got the start for the Eagles and went two and a third innings, allowing a pair of runs off three hits with two strikeouts.

The Eagles close this weekend's three-game set on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. (CT) from Bulldog Field.

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Category: Softball

Published on Saturday, 10 March 2012 18:49