STATESBORO, Ga. – For the second-straight season, Georgia Southern softball will enter the winter with a doubleheader sweep of Georgia Tech fresh in their minds. The defending SoCon Champions battled through injuries throughout the fall season, but finished on a high note with the regular season just 16 weeks away.
“I through we had a very productive fall season getting everybody chances at the plate,” said head coach Annie Smith. “We fought through some injuries and got some good results. We played well at Georgia even though we didn’t win and we finished the fall well with the wins over Georgia Tech.”
The Eagles scored 53 runs in the eight games in the fall, posting five wins in the process. Tabby Douberley was the Eagles’ top hitter with a .600 average and a pair of home runs. Freshman Lindsey Wilcox and sophomore Savannah Coon hit .438 and .389, respectively with three home runs each. As a team, GSU slugged .495 with both Wilcox and Douberley slugging over 1.000.
The fall opened with a doubleheader sweep over South Georgia College and Armstrong Atlantic by 21-7 and 4-1 margins on September 30th. A week later, GSU traveled to Georgia for a pair of games in Athens. The Bulldogs took both contests from the Eagles, 3-0 and 3-2. Shelby Morrill’s two-run homer in the sixth inning of game two gave the Eagles a 2-1 advantage before the Bulldogs responded with runs in the sixth and seventh to take the win.
On the weekend of October 12th and 13th, Southern was back at home for the final four games of the fall season. GSU dropped a game to South Carolina Beaufort 5-3 before downing East Georgia, 12-3. The win over East Georgia was notable because the Bobcats are coached by former Eagles Megen Smith and Mackenzie Williams.
The fall season came to an end with a pair of wins over Georgia Tech. In the opener GSU erased a 5-1 deficit in the seventh inning to force extra innings. Douberley’s three-run home run tied the game, but a Yellow Jacket error in the eighth allowed freshman A.J. Hamilton to score the winning run for the Eagles.
In game two, GSU battled back through heavy rain to defeat Georgia Tech 5-3 with three runs in the seventh inning. Hamilton’s gap-shot to the wall in right gave the Eagles the win and a 5-3 record in the fall season.
The 2013 Georgia Southern Softball season starts on Friday, February 8th in the first of two tournaments at Eagle Field.
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