Eagles Power Past North Florida
3/24/2011 1:07:00 AM | Softball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After the Georgia Southern bats
thrived in the finale at Western Carolina, the Eagle Softball
pitching staff followed suit on Wednesday (March 23rd) to sweep past
North Florida. The two-shutout day was the first for the Eagles since
registering wins over UAB (2-0) and Birmingham Southern (3-0) on
March 1, 2008. The wins snap an eight-game skid against North
Florida.
Freshman Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) tossed a two-hitter
in game one to take the 5-0 win while Sarah Purvis (Warner-Robins,
Ga.) and Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga.) combined for a one-hitter to
take the 5-0 win in game two. Purvis earned her first collegiate
victory on her 19th birthday.
"We are really proud of the way the pitchers stepped up today," said Head Coach Maggie Johnson. "Our entire team played well in all three phases of the game. Our confidence is high as we return to league games this weekend against College of Charleston."
-GAME 1-
The Eagles posted hits in each of the first two innings before loading the bases with no outs in the third frame. A Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) sacrifice fly to right field plated Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.). The next batter, Andrea Tarashuk (Flemington, N.J.), brought Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) into score and give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth frame, the Eagles benefited from a pair of North Florida errors as Fogle scored with two outs. The unearned run gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead through four innings.
Georgia Southern struck again in the fifth inning scoring two runs with two outs in the frame. Kelly Burnett (Boynton Beach, Fla.) came home off an RBI single by Jorie Walker (Dublin, Ga.). A muffed throw on a stolen base attempt by Walker allowed Purvis to score and put the Eagles up 5-0.
The Ospreys ended Miles' no-hit bid in the top of the seventh when the leadoff hitter laced a line drive through the right side. She struck out two of the next three batters to the cement the game one victory.
-GAME 2-
Georgia Southern took early control of game two with a two-RBI single by Williams that brought Fogle and Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) across home. The Eagles tallied another run in the fourth when Fogle's RBI single drove in Burnett from second base to put them up 3-0.
Purvis started game two in the circle on her 19th birthday and
worked the first five innings, holding the Ospreys to just one hit
while recording three strikeouts. Streetmon went the final two
innings for the win for the Eagles.
In the seventh inning,
Fogle tacked on an insurance run with her 11th home run of the
season. She leads the Southern Conference in home runs and is seven
shy of matching the Georgia Southern's single-season home run
record. Ennis doubled on her next at-bat and scored on Tarashuk's
sacrifice fly to for the Eagles' fifth run as Georgia Southern held
on for the shutout.
Georgia Southern returns to SoCon play
this weekend with a three-game set against College of Charleston. The
series begins on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. doubleheader and
concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Fans may follow all the action of the 2011 Georgia Southern Softball season by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/softball or check in for scores at twitter.com/GSScores or facebook.com/GSAthletics for updates.
