Eagles Fall in SoCon Tournament Opener
5/12/2011 4:00:00 AM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Softball team's road to a third Southern Conference Tournament Championship got tougher on Wednesday night (May 11th) as the No. 3 seed Eagles (28-28) fell to the No. 6 seed UNCG (25-30), 2-0 at Eagle Field. GSU's Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga.) faced the minimum through three innings, but gave up a run in the fourth inning. With the loss, Georgia Southern plays No. 2 seed Appalachian State on Thursday (April 12th) at 12 p.m. in the consolation round of the tournament.
"Bri (Streetmon) threw an incredible game," said Head Coach Maggie Johnson. "When a pitcher throws that well, it's disappointing to be unable to step up with runners on base. We have to take advantage of our opportunities when they are presented. Tomorrow, we have to come out focused and ready to fight to the end."
The Eagle bats mustered three hits in the game to go with a pair of UNCG errors and two walks. Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) logged a pair of free passes and was stranded at third in the sixth inning.
UNCG scored the game's first run off a Georgia Southern error in the top of the fourth. Jordan Jewett grounded into what looked to be an inning-ending ground out, but the Eagle first-baseman was unable to handle the throw across the diamond. The ball got away and Aisha Figueroa scored to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, Georgia Southern loaded the bases with one out. A squeeze play by Jorie Walker (Dublin, Ga.) was directed perfectly, but a great throw retired a runner at the plate. The Spartans got out of the inning with a ground out to third base on the next play.
The Spartans went up 2-0 in the top of the seventh when relief pitcher Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) issued a walk with the bases loaded. Miles struck out two in her outing, but allowed the run for the UNCG victory.
Streetmon went six-plus innings and allowed just four hits. She was charged with two runs, one earned and struck out three Spartans without allowing a walk.
Seventh-seeded Samford defeated Appalachian State 6-3 earlier in the day, forcing the Mountaineers into the consolation bracket for the Thursday, 12 p.m. meeting against Georgia Southern. The Eagles took two of three from ASU during the regular season and own a 5-1 record against the Mountaineers in SoCon Tournament play.
The Eagles' game against Appalachian State can be seen live on Eagle Vision and heard locally in the Statesboro/Bulloch County area on 91.9 FM "The Buzz."
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.
