BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Georgia Southern picked up its third regular season SoCon Championship on Saturday afternoon thanks to a Furman loss, but dropped a pair of games to Samford to open the final regular season series of the SoCon Era. The Eagles dropped the opener 1-0 and fell 2-1 in eight innings as the Bulldogs secured the series win.

The Eagles fell to 32-19 on the season with an unassailable 14-6 mark in league games. Samford improves to 36-15 and 11-8 in SoCon play. Georgia Southern's third regular season Championship joins previous titles in 1999 and 2012.

GAME ONE
GS 0, SAM 1

Samford took advantage of a fifth inning home run from Caroline Wilder to record the 1-0 win in the series opener. Sarah Purvis held the Bulldogs to just four hits on the day with eight strikeouts in the circle.

The Georgia Southern offense posted three hits in the game, but was the beneficiary of seven walks at the plate. For the game, Georgia Southern left seven runners on base, including the bases loaded in the fifth and two to close the game.

A double by Lexi Allen with one out in the seventh, followed by a Breanna McLendon single put runners at first and second with one out. Back-to-back ground outs, however, ended the game as the Bulldogs took the series opener.

GAME TWO
GS 1, SAM 2

Georgia Southern grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning on McLendon's home run to left field. It was the fourth home run of the season for the Eagle centerfielder and came just minutes before news of the Appalachian State-Furman game reached Birmingham.

The Eagles had a pair of chances in the fifth inning as Samford made a pair of outs at the plate to keep Georgia Southern off the scoreboard in the inning.

Junior pitcher Brooke Red carried a no-hitter through six-plus innings, facing a batter in the seventh before Abby Sweeney hit a bleeder to left for the first hit of the game. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out and got the tying run on a fielder's choice to second base. Red, however, settled down and got an infield fly and a strikeout to end the threat.

In the eighth the Bulldogs got a leadoff double from Caitlin Bice, but Madison Dickey then would reach base on a strikeout-wild pitch combo to put two runners aboard with no outs. After a line out to first, Sweeney walked to load the bases with just one out. A base hit to the outfield ended the game and handed the home side the doubleheader sweep.

The same teams are back in action on Sunday for the regular season finale which starts at 1 p.m. local time. The 2014 SoCon Tournament starts on Wednesday in Greensboro. Gametime for the opening game for the top-seeded Eagles will be determined on Sunday afternoon.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets call 1-800-GSU-WINS.