Georgia Southern Wins Two on First Day of Eagle Classic
2/25/2012 4:08:00 AM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Softball logged a pair of wins in the opening day of the 2012 Eagle Classic presented by SpringHill Suites. GSU opened the evening with a win over Jacksonville State, 7-4 before downing Albany 6-0 in the night cap.
"Our offense did a great job of putting pressure on our opponents tonight," said Head Coach Annie Smith. "I'm really happy with the way we hit the ball and defended, committing just one error. Our pitchers continued to throw the ball well and we're going to get some rest before facing Kentucky and Radford tomorrow."
-- Game 1 --
Friday's pair of games got underway after a two hour delay due to heavy thunderstorms that saturated the grounds. The Eagles didn't waste any time, loading the bases with one out, helped by a double by Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.). The senior centerfielder scored, Fogle, scored on a walk by Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.). Sophomore Kourtny Thomas (Warner Robins, Ga.) plated two more runs with a frozen rope liner to centerfield, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead after a half inning of play.
Jacksonville State answered in the bottom of the frame with a home run by Shelby Holley, her second of the day to right center to cut the GSU advantage to 3-1.
In the second the Eagles logged back-to-back-to-back doubles from Alexa Lewis (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Jorie Walker (Dublin, Ga.) and Fogle. The trio scored a run of their own and set the table for another run to score as the Eagles went up 5-2 through two innings.
In the fourth, Fogle launched a towering drive to left center for her 19th career home run and first of the season. The two-run job gave the Eagles a 7-1 lead through four and a half.
Starting pitcher Sarah Purvis (Warner Robins, Ga.) went into cruise control, not allowing another hit until the bottom of the fourth when a Gamecock triple plated their second run of the game. Purvis, however, would record one of her five strikeouts in the game to strand the runner at third and keep a 7-2 Georgia Southern advantage.
After four innings of work, Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) came in to relieve Purvis for the final three frames. The SoCon Preseason Pitcher of the Year fanned the first two batters faced on consecutive strikes. Miles would allow two runs in the sixth en route to her second save of the year as GSU won 7-4 over Jacksonville State.
-- Game 2 -
The Eagles got off the mark in game two in the second inning off a sacrifice fly by Thomas. Her skied shot to center reached the wall, allowing Williams to score easily from third base and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Three more runs scored in the fourth as the Eagles extended the lead to 4-0.
In the top of the fifth, Thomas lifted another sacrifice fly to score Georgia Southern's second run of the frame as the Eagles extended the lead to six runs through the middle of the fifth inning.
Freshman Brooke Red (Warner Robins, Ga.) extended her streak of innings without allowing an earned run to 22.1 consecutive innings. She allowed four hits over her five innings with five strikeouts for her third victory over the year against no losses. Marla Thompson (Statesboro, Ga.) saw her first action at Eagle field, closing out the game with two innings of work to close out the 6-0 Georgia Southern win over the Great Danes.
Play continues at the 2012 Eagle Classic on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. with North Florida facing Albany. Georgia Southern returns to action at 3:30 p.m. against Kentucky, followed by a 5:30 p.m. contest against Radford at Eagle Field.
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