Eagles Fall to Marshall, but Demolish George Mason
2/12/2012 4:43:00 AM | Softball
CONWAY, S.C. - Georgia Southern Softball logged its second-consecutive split in day two of the Coastal Carolina Kickin' Chicken Classic on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles opened the afternoon with a 4-1 extra innings loss to Marshall before downing George Mason 10-1 to close the evening. Georgia Southern closes the weekend against Coastal Carolina on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
-- GAME ONE -
Georgia Southern opened the second day of the 2012 season against Marshall for the second time in as many days. Marshall scored a run in the first inning via small ball, but the Eagles got on the board in the bottom of the first by taking advantage of two fielding errors by the Herd. Jorie Walker (Dublin, Ga.), who led the game off, came home off a sacrifice fly by Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) to tie the game 1-1.
That, however, would be the last of the scoring until the eighth inning when the international tiebreaker rule was invoked. Marshall scored off an Eagle error to take a 2-1 lead with no outs in the frame. The Thundering Herd would go on to post three runs in the eighth to take the 4-1 victory for the second-straight day.
Sophomore Sarah Purvis (Warner-Robins, Ga.) went the distance for the Eagles in the circle, scattering seven Marshall hits over the eight innings of work. Just two of the four runs allowed were credited as earned. She took the loss as Marshall held the Eagles to just two hits in the game.
-- GAME TWO -
Saturday's second game was a different affair all together with the Eagle offense pounding out 13 hits to down GMU 10-1 in seven innings. Sophomore Kourtny Thomas (Warner Robins, Ga.) went yard for the second time this weekend in the second inning with a solo job.
Georgia Southern tacked on two more runs in the third inning off a two RBI single by Fogle. She finished the day with three RBIs while going 2-for-6 overall. The Patriots fired back in the bottom of the third with a solo home run of their own with two outs. The hit was just the third allowed by starting pitcher Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.). She would go four full innings allowing just the one run to earn her first victory of the season and improve to 1-1 in 2012.
The Eagles scored three more in the fourth with two crossing on Tabby Douberley's (Clyo, Ga.) second home run of the season. Freshman Lexi Allen (Cobbtown, Ga.) plated Alexa Lewis (Lawrenceville, Ga.) later in the frame for Allen's first career RBI. She got the start at designated player and hit leadoff for the Eagles.
Andrea Tarashuk (Flemmington, N.J.) pushed across another run in the fifth inning, driving Tyler Sampson (Monroe, Ga.) in to score for a 7-1 lead. In the seventh, Georgia Southern added three more runs off three hits to cap off the 10-1 victory.
Georgia Southern closes out the Coastal Carolina Kickin' Chicken Classic with one game on Sunday, facing tournament host Coastal Carolina at 2 p.m.
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