Eagles Sweep Samford With 12-3 Sunday Win
3/11/2012 8:47:00 PM | Softball
BIRMINGHAM. Ala. - Georgia Southern Softball closed the opening weekend of Southern Conference play with a 12-3 run rule victory over Samford. The Eagles slugged four home runs in the contest to go 3-0 in the league and 13-7 overall. Samford with the loss falls to 4-16 overall and 0-3 in the SoCon
"Getting a sweep in this league is a hard thing to do," said Head Coach Annie Smith. "I'm proud of our girls for going out there and taking these three victories. Our pitching was outstanding all weekend and our bats really came around in the final two games. I was also very happy that our defense did not commit an error in the series."
Georgia Southern took an early lead for the third time in the series, taking advantage of a leadoff error to put Alexa Lewis (Lawrenceville, Ga.) on first base. She went to second on a sacrifice bunt, but it was Marie Fogle's (Rincon, Ga.) RBI single up the middle that sent Lewis in for the first run of the game. Fogle reached third, but was cut down for the second out of the inning at the plate. The Eagles would strand two more runners in the first, but took the 1-0 lead.
A leadoff home run in the bottom of the second inning for Samford leveled the score line at 1-1 as Madison Dickey hit a homer to left center.
The Eagles didn't waste any time in the third inning loading the bases with no outs. Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) plated two runs with a single down the leftfield line. The RBIs were her 11th and 12th of the season as the senior cleanup hitter put the Eagles ahead 3-1.
An inning later, the lead grew to 4-1 on Kourtny Thomas' (Warner Robins, Ga.) fourth home run of the season. She blasted the towering shot off a 3-1 pitch. Lewis made it 5-1 later in the frame with a solo shot to right. Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) matched the feat two pitches later with her second home run of the season to dead centerfield. It was the first time the Eagles went back-to-back since last year's Western Carolina series when Fogle and Ennis went back-to-back.
Samford answered in the bottom of the fourth with a home run of their own to make the score 6-2. A single down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth further cut into GSU lead, making the score 6-3.
With no outs in the sixth, Georgia Southern put runners on second and third, setting the table for Fogle to smash her second home run of the season. The three-run job gave the Eagles a 9-3 lead and was her 20th career home run, moving Fogle into a tie with Sam Steiner (2003-06) for fourth place all-time at Georgia Southern.
Following the home run, Samford surrendered three-straight walks to load the bases before a sacrifice fly by Thomas plated a run to make the score 10-3. Thomas' effort nearly got out of the park for what would have been the Eagles' first grand slam of the season. A two-RBI double by Tabby Douberley (Clyo, Ga.) extended the advantage to 12-3 and put the Eagles in position for the run rule victory.
The Eagles continue their road swing on Tuesday afternoon against No. 3 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. The midweek doubleheader starts at 4 p.m. and concludes with a 6 p.m. contest.
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