Offensive Explosion Gives Softball a Sweep of Florida A&M
4/9/2008 4:11:00 AM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern sophomore Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) totaled five hits and sophomore Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) tied the school's single-season home run mark in a softball sweep of Florida A&M Wednesday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The 9-1 and 11-1 wins (both five innings) are GSU's third straight and improve their mark to 25-22 on the season. FAMU drops to 10-32.
“I always have a little bit of anxiety going in to non-conference games just because I feel like if we don't come out ready to play we could have easily dropped two games, especially to a team that is aggressive and played some ranked teams close,” said Eagles head coach Natalie Poole. “I wasn't really sure what was going to happen but I felt like if we came out and played well, we could do well.”
The Eagles recorded 20 runs on 19 hits and had their best output in back-to-back games since the first two outings of the season.
“I thought that (the offense) was really good,” said Poole. “As long as we're keeping the ball down and working the middle then we're giving ourselves opportunities, and I think we did that. We gave ourselves opportunities to score and made them make the plays with the ball down so I was definitely happy about that.”
Iduate had five hits and reached base six times. She has a five-game hitting streak and is batting .667 over that stretch.
“She's just steady,” said Poole about Iduate. “She's seeing the ball really well right now, doesn't get flustered if she gets down in the count and does a good job of keeping her hands up and challenging the middle.”
Side went 3-for-3 in game one with two runs and five RBI. She hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning to tie Crystal Crews for first place at GSU in single-season home runs with 10.
Eight Georgia Southern starters recorded at least one hit in the nightcap as the Eagles chased the FAMU starter in the first inning before recording an out. Six batters crossed the plate in the opening frame and four more came across in the third.
Senior Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) allowed four hits and one run in game one to earn the win (12-7) while freshman Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) matched her in the second game, also giving up four hits and a run (9-7).
GSU returns to conference action this weekend with a three-game set at UNC Greensboro.
The 9-1 and 11-1 wins (both five innings) are GSU's third straight and improve their mark to 25-22 on the season. FAMU drops to 10-32.
“I always have a little bit of anxiety going in to non-conference games just because I feel like if we don't come out ready to play we could have easily dropped two games, especially to a team that is aggressive and played some ranked teams close,” said Eagles head coach Natalie Poole. “I wasn't really sure what was going to happen but I felt like if we came out and played well, we could do well.”
The Eagles recorded 20 runs on 19 hits and had their best output in back-to-back games since the first two outings of the season.
“I thought that (the offense) was really good,” said Poole. “As long as we're keeping the ball down and working the middle then we're giving ourselves opportunities, and I think we did that. We gave ourselves opportunities to score and made them make the plays with the ball down so I was definitely happy about that.”
Iduate had five hits and reached base six times. She has a five-game hitting streak and is batting .667 over that stretch.
“She's just steady,” said Poole about Iduate. “She's seeing the ball really well right now, doesn't get flustered if she gets down in the count and does a good job of keeping her hands up and challenging the middle.”
Side went 3-for-3 in game one with two runs and five RBI. She hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning to tie Crystal Crews for first place at GSU in single-season home runs with 10.
Eight Georgia Southern starters recorded at least one hit in the nightcap as the Eagles chased the FAMU starter in the first inning before recording an out. Six batters crossed the plate in the opening frame and four more came across in the third.
Senior Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) allowed four hits and one run in game one to earn the win (12-7) while freshman Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) matched her in the second game, also giving up four hits and a run (9-7).
GSU returns to conference action this weekend with a three-game set at UNC Greensboro.
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