Williams Grand Slam Lifts Softball over Mercer

STATESBORO, Ga. – Softball (2-2) sweeps Mercer (3-3) Sunday at Eagle Field giving head coach Maggie Johnson her first two career victories.

Georgia Southern won game one 5-3 and game two 9-5.

Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) picked up both wins on 8.2 combined innings pitched.

“Kristen really stepped up and got the job done,” said Johnson.

Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) hit a home run in both game one and game two.

“Robyne just hits the ball hard,” said Johnson.

Game One

A three-run sixth inning lifted Georgia Southern over Mercer in game one of a doubleheader at Eagle Field Sunday.

Freshman Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) led off the sixth inning with a 0-2 single. Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) drove in Stephanie Peet (Lawrenceville, Ga.), who pitch ran for Ennis for the first run of the inning. Sam Russo (Snellville, Ga.) kept the two-out rally going with a RBI double to right center. Amanda Glover (Evans, Ga.) drove in Russo to give the Eagles a 5-3 lead.

Georgia Southern manufactured a first inning run to take a 1-0 lead. Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) reached on an infield hit and came around to score on a wild pitch with two outs.

The Eagles added to their lead when Siliga homered to center giving Georgia Southern a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Kristan Glover picked up the win in relief. She pitched 1.2 innings allowing only one hit and no runs.

Mercer took a short lived 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning. Emi Sherrill hit a two RBI single with bases loaded to tie the game. Kristin Marko hit a pitch hit RBI single to give the Bears the lead. Mercer kept the bases loaded with one out after Marko’s hit. Sherrill was thrown out at home by Siliga for the second out of the inning. Kristan Glover struck out Lacey Richardson on a 1-2 count to get out of the jam.

Game Two

Mackenzie Williams’ (Baxley, Ga.) grand slam in the fifth inning lifts softball over Mercer in game two of the doubleheader Sunday. The grand slam was Williams’ first hit of her career and gave Georgia Southern a 7-2 lead. The Eagles went on to win 9-5.

The Eagles scored all nine runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings as the bats came to life late in the ballgame.

Mercer took an early two-run lead in the second when Cassy Neilson drove in two runs on a two-out double.

Page Raynor doubled in the third inning as Mercer threatened to score in back-to-back innings; however, Jordyn Nail (Swainsboro, Ga.) made a sliding catch in right field with two outs to end the threat.

Ennis got things started for the Eagles with a leadoff triple in the fourth and scored on a wild pitch.

Siliga hit her second home run of the season in the fourth and tied the game at 2-2.

Amanda Hall (Haddock, Ga.) drove in two more runs in the sixth inning with her first home run of the season. She went two for four with three RBIs in game two and leads the team in runs batted in.

“Hall consistently hits, and that was a big one in the sixth,” said Johnson.

Kristan Glover went the distance for Georgia Southern earning her second win on the day.

Iduate stole two bases and scored two runs in game two.

Softball hits the road Tuesday and will face Florida A&M in a doubleheader in Tallahassee, Fla. starting at 4 p.m.

Category: Softball

Published on Sunday, 15 February 2009 00:01