Softball Soars to Doubleheader Sweep of Furman
4/17/2011 12:06:00 AM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Softball (24-23, 12-5 SoCon) took a doubleheader sweep over Furman (13-23, 6-8 SoCon) on Saturday (April 16th) at Eagle Field. The Eagles run-ruled the Paladins in the first game, 9-1, needing six innings to take the victory. Game two was a pitchers' duel that went eight innings before an RBI single by Kelly Burnett (Boynton Beach, Fla.) gave Georgia Southern a 1-0 victory.
"We're proud of the effort from our team today," said Head Coach Maggie Johnson. "Both pitchers had great defensive support and we found a way to push runs across when we needed them. It was a great pair of team wins today."
Junior Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) had a stellar day at the plate, going 5-for-7 overall, including a solo home run in game one. Senior Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) went 4-for-6 and scored the game-winning run in game two. Her sacrifice fly in game one plated Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) and ended the day's first game.
The Eagle pitchers were dominant, holding Furman to six total hits and no earned runs. Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga.) took the complete-game victory to open the day and win her 10th game of the season. She needed just 65 pitches to dismiss the Paladins on four hits and an unearned run with five strikeouts. Freshman Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) posted her third shutout of the season in eight innings of work to improve to 11-7 in the circle. She struck out a career-high 10 batters and tallied Georgia Southern's fourth two-hitter of the season.
-Game 1-
The Eagle bats opened the day with three runs off four hits to spring out to a 3-0 lead. Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) lead off with a double and scored on Smith's RBI single through the right side. Smith and Williams came home later in the frame off a two-RBI single by Kayla Brooks (Jonesboro, Ga.), Brooks' first RBIs of season.
Williams extended the GSU lead to 4-0 in the third inning with her solo home run with one out. She now has eight home runs and is tied with Smith for second place on the team.
Furman clawed a run back in the fourth, scoring Hannah Pace off a throwing error on the back-end of a 4-6-3 double-play attempt. The Eagles atoned for the miscue in the bottom of the inning when Jorie Walker (Dublin, Ga.) scored off Fogle's second double of the day to put GSU up 5-1.
A leadoff hit by Ennis in the fifth paved the way for another Eagle run. The junior shortstop scored on Williams' single up the middle to make the score 6-1 after five. GSU clinched the run-rule victory in the sixth inning with three runs. Walker scored her second run of the day off an Ennis double, which also plated Fogle. Ennis reached third on the play to put the run-rule victory within reach. Smith's sacrifice fly to center brought Ennis home and sealed the 9-1 Georgia Southern win.
-Game 2-
In game two, both pitchers were effective and held the opposing offense in check for over seven innings. Furman's biggest threat came in the second when the Paladins put runners on second and third with no outs. Miles struck out the side to get out of the jam. The Eagles could not get a breakthrough run, stranding two runners in regulation.
A one-out walk by Smith in the bottom of the eight was followed by a single through the right side by Williams to put runners on first and second. Burnett ended the game for Georgia Southern with a walk-off single to score Smith and a 1-0 Georgia Southern victory.
Georgia Southern won its seventh consecutive series over Furman with Saturday's wins. The Eagles will attempt the sweep on Sunday, April 17th, at 1 p.m. at Eagle Field.
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.
