HIGHLIGHTS:
• Emily Snider notched her seventh home run of the season in the first game
• A.J. Hamilton connected on a solo home run in the first game
• Taylor Rogers had three hits in the second game
 
DECATUR, Ga. – The Georgia Southern softball team wrapped up its regular season Saturday at Bob Heck Field with a doubleheader split with Georgia State in both team's last games of the regular season. The Panthers took the opener 4-2 before the Eagles hung on for a heart-pounding 4-3 decision in the second game.
 
Georgia Southern finishes the regular season with a record of 30-26. The Eagles, under head coach Annie Smith, have improved 18 wins from last year when they went 12-39 in 2015.
 
GAME 1 – Georgia State 4, Georgia Southern 2
The Eagles hit a pair of home runs, but both were solo shots, and Georgia State capitalized on a pair of GS errors to account for the difference in game one.
 
Georgia State got on the board in the second inning with a triple and a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, State used a two-out rally to plate another run with a single and a double to make it 2-0.
 
In the top of the fourth inning, junior Emily Snider blasted a solo home run down the left field line to cut the lead in half. For Snider, it was her seventh home run of the season. The Panthers tallied an unearned run in the bottom half of the inning to make it a two-run game again.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, A.J. Hamilton launched a solo home run to left-center field that went off the roof of the GSU hitting facility to again cut the lead in half at 3-2.
 
An error once again led to a Georgia State run in the fifth inning as the Panthers stretched their lead back to two runs and the Eagles weren't able to claw their way back into it, falling 4-2.
 
Snider led the way for the Eagles with a pair of hits while Alesha Mann, Hannah Farrell and Hamilton all had one.
 
Dixie Raley (L, 22-14) went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits while giving up a walk. Heather Felt pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, giving up just a walk.
 
GAME 2 – Georgia Southern 4, Georgia State 3
Georgia Southern came out swinging in the second game as Taylor Rogers and Haley Carter both reached on singles to begin the game. Rogers scored on a wild pitch and Carter scored on a sacrifice fly from Morgan Robinson to give GS a quick 2-0 lead. In the second inning, Rogers reached on an infield single to plate India Davis to make it 3-0.
 
The Panthers slowly worked their way back into it, scoring a run in the third inning on a two-out double and one more in the fourth inning on a wild pitch.
 
Georgia Southern got a run in the sixth inning when Hamilton led off with a triple to the gap and scored on Alesha Mann's sac fly.
 
The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh inning, but couldn't score and the Panthers nearly made them pay. A one-out home run and a single brought the winning run to the plate, but Raley came in to preserve the win.
 
Keira Camp got the start, but didn't factor into the decision. She went 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Felt (W, 2-2) went 2 2/3 innings, allowing a run on four hits. Raley (S, 3) got the last two outs in dramatic fashion to pick up the save.
 
Rogers had three hits to lead the way while Carter had a pair of hits. Hamilton, Snider, Farrell and Davis all had one hit.
 
With the series win, Georgia State earns a point in the Rivalry Series and now leads 12-6. Both teams will now head to Mobile, Alabama, for the 2016 Sun Belt Softball Championship, which begins Wednesday. The Eagles will play in one of the single-elimination play-in games on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. local) against a to-be-announced team. The Sun Belt Conference will officially announce the entire bracket and matchups on Sunday.