Eagles Win First, Fall in Extra Innings in Second
3/28/2010 3:03:00 AM | Softball
Boone, N.C.- Georgia Southern split with Southern Conference foe Appalachian State on Saturday. The Eagles earned the win in Game 1, 3-0, before dropping Game 2, 5-4 in eight innings, their seventh extra-inning game of the 2010 season.
Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) went 3-3 in the first game, hitting her fifth home run of the season in the first inning. Side drove in Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.), who singled to start the game, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Side batted .435 last week with two home runs in the last four games.
Georgia Southern would add an insurance run in the seventh inning. Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) reached base on a fielder's choice and she advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kaitlynn Szczepanski (Chesapeake, Va.) singled to center field to bring her in across the plate and extend the Eagles' lead 3-0.
Georgia Southern silenced Mountaineer batters behind another strong outing by Preseason Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga). Streetmon improved her record to a league-best 12-3 after going seven innings, striking out eight batters and allowing no runs. Streetmon, leads the Eagles in innings pitched (114.1) and strikeouts (100) and tops the SoCon in complete games with four.
In Game 2, the Eagles would trail the Mountaineers 2-0 heading to the top of the fifth inning. Kelly Burnett (Boynton Beach, Fla.) would reach base on a fielder's choice to Mountaineer's shortstop McKenzie Phillips. Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) hit a home run to right field to knot the score at two all. Smith's home run put her at nine total for the season, best in the Southern Conference.
In the top of the sixth, the Eagles would grab their first lead of the game off a Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) sacrifice fly to center that brought Ennis in to score. Ennis had reached base of a double to center field.
Georgia Southern would fall behind in the bottom of the sixth off of an Allie Chasion single which brought Sarah Rappe and Hayley Grabner in to score. Trailing 4-3 in the seventh, the Eagles went back to work offensively. Iduate reached on an error by Phillips and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Mountaineer pitcher Caitlin Wainright.
Burnett advanced Iduate to third on a groundout to the catcher. Smith would bring Iduate in to tie the ballgame at 4-4 on a single up the middle. The Mountaineers scored in the bottom half of the inning to take the win, 5-4.
The rubber match between Georgia Southern and Appalachian State has been moved from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m. However, due to the threat of inclement weather, the game could possibly begin as early as 10:30 a.m. Lives Stats will be available through the athletics department website at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
