Eagles Blank Elon in Home Finale, 5-0
4/29/2012 8:07:00 PM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Softball closed the 2012 home schedule with a convincing 5-0 win over Elon at Eagle Field. Sarah Purvis (Warner Robins, Ga.) tossed a two-hitter with nine strikeouts to win her 11th game in conference play. The Eagles are 35-17 overall and 19-2 in the Southern Conference entering the final three games of league play next weekend at Furman.
"After not playing up to our full potential in the last few games, I feel like we had a good afternoon today," said Head Coach Annie Smith. "It was one of our goals to get a sweep for our seniors this weekend. We've been taking it one game at a time and that's going to be our goal next weekend at Furman and in the SoCon Tournament."
The first two and a half innings of Sunday's game were a pitching duel between Elon's Erin O'Shea and GSU's Purvis. The Eagles ended that in the bottom of the third when Lexi Allen (Cobbtown, Ga.) drove in a run with a frozen rope double to the wall in right-center. The Eagles' first hit of the day gave GSU an early 1-0 advantage.
In the fourth, Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) earned a leadoff walk, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.). Fogle stretched the play into two bases and a pinch hitter, Kaitlyn Johnson (Fayetteville, Ga.) lofted a high fly ball down the left field line that nearly left the park. The sacrifice fly scored Fogle, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead through four innings.
Andrea Tarashuk (Flemington, N.J.) tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth with a two-run home run down the line in left. It was her second long-ball of the season and brought Johnson in to score after she was hit by a pitch. Later in the inning, Tabby Douberley (Clyo, Ga.) hit a ball down the right field line which found grass between two Elon defenders. An errant throw back into the infield allowed Kourtny Thomas (Warner Robins, Ga.) to score from third and give the Eagles a 5-0 lead going into the seventh.
Purvis was stellar on the afternoon, tossing a two-hit shutout. She struck out nine batters, raising her season total to 204 strikeouts, two shy of the Georgia Southern school record of 206 strikeouts in a season. It was her 18th win of the season and her 11th in conference play with no losses.
The Eagles close out the 2012 regular season next weekend on the road against Furman. The series begins on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. from Greenville, S.C.
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