STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern Softball dropped a 6-2 decision to Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles and Bulldogs return to Eagle Field on Sunday at Noon to close the non-conference series.

Georgia Southern Softball observed a moment's silence before the start of Saturday's game to honor the victims of this week's tragic automobile accident which killed five Georgia Southern nursing students and left two others in the hospital. The Eagles also placed special stickers on their batting helmets to honor their classmates. The words "GSU Strong" were painted in the outfield in honor of the students.

"I thought we settled down after those first two innings," said Head Coach Annie Smith. "I was happy with the way we played defense; we turned a really good double play and got out of some big jams. We battled well all day and really set a good tone as we go to the final part of the season."

Mississippi State took an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run on the game's first pitch. The Bulldogs got two more aboard in the inning, but was only able to plate the one run. The Bulldogs got four in the second inning including a three-run home run off the bat of Caroline Seitz.

Kaitlyn Johnson got the Eagles' first hit in the second with two outs. Georgia Southern stranded a runner in three of their first four trips to the plate.

Mississippi State loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but a diving catch by Lexi Allen at short robbed the Bulldogs from scoring at least two runs in the inning. Instead the Eagles blanked the Bulldogs for their third-straight trip to the plate and kept the score at 5-0.

The Eagles got on the board in the sixth by cashing in a leadoff single from Alesha Mann. The second baseman stole second and came in to score off a duck snort single by Morgan Robinson. The ball found grass in front of the right fielder as Mann rounded third with two outs. The run cut the lead to 5-1 entering the seventh inning.

The Bulldogs tacked on an insurance run to make the score 6-1 midway through the seventh. The Eagles took advantage of a pair of Mississippi State errors in the seventh to plate another run and mount a late charge. A strikeout, however, with the tying run on deck ended the game as the Eagles fell 6-2.

Georgia Southern became the eighth and final team to qualify for the Sun Belt Tournament as Texas State took the opening game of their series to eliminate the Mountaineers from postseason consideration. The 2014 Sun Belt Tournament starts on Wednesday, May 6th, at Bobcat Softball Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. The Eagles are locked into the No. 8 seed and open the postseason against the No. 5 seed at 12:30 p.m. (CT).

"I'm happy for our team to qualify for the tournament in our first season in the new league," said Smith. "When you get to the postseason, everyone is 0-0 on the year and you've got a chance to move on."

Georgia Southern and Mississippi State close the weekend series on Sunday with a Noon game. The Eagles are at home next weekend to close the regular season against Georgia State starting on Friday evening at 6 p.m.

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