Softball Eagles Advance to Championship of Eagle Classic
2/21/2010 1:26:00 AM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Eagles avenged a heartbreaking loss Friday to Binghamton with a 6-4 defeat of the Bearcats Saturday in day two of the Eagle Classic. The win put the Eagles in the championship game of the Eagle Classic against Lipscomb who is undefeated so far this weekend. Oakland and Binghamton will play in the first game at 11 a.m.
Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) led off the game with a single and scored a run after stealing second. Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) drove in Fogle and advanced to second on a throwing error. Smith then stole third before scoring while Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) was caught in a rundown.
The Eagles would fall behind Binghamton 3-2 before rallying with Smith starting the sixth inning with a single up the middle. She advanced to second on Sam Russo's (Snellville, Ga.) sacrifice bunt and scored on Williams' single. Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.), who was 2-4 on the day, hit a single which drove in Williams. Kelly Burnett's (Boynton Beach, Fla.) sacrifice fly to center field scored Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.).
The Eagles would add one more insurance run in the top of the seventh inning thanks in part to a wild pitch by Bearcat pitcher Rhoda Marstellar. Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga.) earned the win (2-1) going seven innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, two of which were earned and striking out three.
"We had to find a way to regroup and bounce back after a tough morning to get ourselves into the championship game," coach Maggie Johnson said. "It was still a game to learn from but get the end result we wanted."
In Georgia Southern's first game of the day, Lipscomb used a seven-run, second inning to jump out to a 7-0 lead over the Eagles. Kellie Sirus' single to left field drove in two runs for the Lady Bison. Lipscomb's Abby Keese hit a two-run homer to right field to end the scoring in the inning.
Eagles' senior Burnett broke up Whitney Kiihnl's no hitter in the bottom of the fifth with a line drive single to left field. However, the Eagles would not be able to plate any runners in the fifth inning. Lipscomb would add three more runs in the top of the sixth inning as they defeated the Eagles 10-0.
In the opening game of the day, Binghamton (2-1) rallied to beat Oakland (0-3) 5-4. Binghamton jumped out to a three-run lead before watching it disappear behind four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for Oakland. DeAnnie Plemon hit a two-run homer to right field for the winning runs for Binghamton in the top of the seventh.
In the other game of the tournament, Lipscomb continued its domination of its opponents by jumping out early, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first. A three-run home run to deep center by Vanessa Medina gave the Lady Bison a hot start which continued into the second, plating 10 runs on seven hits and four errors by Oakland fielders. Lipscomb would go on to defeat Oakland 20-0 in five innings.
The Eagle Classic concludes Sunday with Oakland taking on Binghamton at 11 a.m. at Eagle Field. The Eagles will play Lipscomb at 1 p.m. for the Eagle Classic Championship. The game can be heard locally on 91.9 The Buzz with announcers Daniel Sallerson and Drew Cheshire.
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