Eagles Take Series From Furman With 3-2 Win Monday
5/10/2010 8:09:00 PM | Softball
GREENVILLE, S.C. (Georgia Southern) - The Softball Eagles took the series two games to one from Furman with a 3-2 win Monday (May 10), propelled by Megen Smith's two-run home run in the top of the first inning.
The blast to left-centerfield put the junior from Springfield, Ga.'s school-record at 16 home runs this season and extended her hitting streak to 14 games. Senior Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) led off the inning with a walk and scored on the home run.
With the win, Georgia Southern (29-24, 14-9 Southern Conference) claimed the No. 3-seed in the SoCon Tournament, which begins Thursday in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Eagles will meet second-seeded Elon at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 13 at Frost Stadium. Preseason favorite Chattanooga is the top seed and will meet UNC Greensboro, the fourth seed at 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
"For the past three weekends, we have approached each series as if it was a tournament and we had to win," Eagles Head Coach Maggie Johnson stated after the game. "Having had three successful weekends in a row, we have built a confidence going into the tournament.
"This weekend, we played hard and refused to give in. We need to take that mentality with us to Chattanooga and continue to play great softball," Johnson concluded.
Furman (24-23, 12-11 SoCon) cut the Eagles' lead to one with an RBI-double by Lana Mackey in the bottom of the first.
The game became a pitchers' dual between Georgia Southern's Brianna Streetmon, a junior from Winder, Ga., and Furman's Mackey. Neither team could scratch a run until the top of the fifth inning. Sophomore Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) scored what proved to be the winning run as Mackey walked freshman Tabby Douberley's (Clyo, Ga.) with the bases loaded. Douberley got the RBI as Georgia Southern stretched the lead to 3-1.
The Paladins loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Streetmon pitched out of the jam, allowing just one run. Streetmon allowed one hit in the seventh to close the door on Furman with the 3-2 victory. Streetmon improved to 19-10 on the season, allowing two runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and a walk in seven innings.
Mackey (17-10) took the loss for Furman, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and seven walks in seven innings.
Smith finished the day 1-for-1 with a home run, two RBIs and three walks, all on four-straight pitches. Iduate went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, and Fogle was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Fans may follow the Eagles through the tournament with live stats from Chattanooga. Live stats may be accessed 15 minutes prior to the Eagles' games by clicking on the schedule at the bottom of the www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com website. Scores will also be updated every half inning on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GSScores.
