STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern took Mississippi State nine innings, but dropped a 7-5 decision to the Bulldogs. The Eagles went toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs in the Sunday finale to the series, carrying a lead in the non-conference battle against one of the SEC's elite squads. Next up for the Eagles is the final regular season series of the year as rival Georgia State comes to town beginning on Friday night at 6 p.m.
"We did a lot of good things today and had a lot of opportunities to win the game," said Head Coach
Annie Smith. "We battled back throughout the game, but our pitchers did a great job against a very potent lineup. Our defense is tightening up over the last few games and our pitchers have really settled down. I'm really excited for the series next weekend against Georgia State to close the regular season."
Mississippi State started Sunday's game the same way as Saturday with a leadoff home run to quickly take a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs doubled their pleasure later in the frame when a triple turned into a 2-0 advantage through the first half inning of play.
Not to be outdone,
Alesha Mann duplicated the feat in the bottom of the first, posting a leadoff home run for the Eagles. It was the first leadoff home run for the Eagles in the opening inning since
Marie Fogle on March 19th, 2011. Fogle did it in both games of the doubleheader at Western Carolina that day.
The Bulldogs added another run in the second inning to stretch the lead to 3-1. Georgia Southern quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame following a pair of singles and a bunt with no outs in the frame. A walk to Mann scored a run, but the Eagles would leave the bases full as the lead fell to 3-2.
Georgia Southern took advantage of two Mississippi State errors in the third inning to plate three runs and take a 5-3 lead. Singles from
Morgan Robinson and
Kaitlyn Johnson opened the door for the Eagles who had a run score on a throwing error by the third baseman. Another throwing error by the second baseman allowed two more to score and gave the Eagles their first lead of the series.
The Bulldogs got a pair of unearned runs in the fourth to tie the game again at 5-5. Those would be the final runs scored in regulation as both pitching staffs settled down. The game went to extra innings with blank frames in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
Mississippi State staked itself to a two-run lead in the ninth thanks to a two-run home run by Mackenzie Toler. In the bottom of the ninth, Georgia Southern was dismissed in order to end the game.
After a shaky first inning, starting pitcher
Heather Felt settled down, allowing just three earned runs over 3.2 innings in the no decision.
Kierra Camp came on in relief and was stellar, throwing 5.1 innings of relief and allowing just the two runs off the ninth inning home run. She scattered five hits, but was hit with the hard-luck loss.
The Eagles are at home next weekend for three games to close the regular season against in-state rivals Georgia State. First pitch on Friday evening is set for 6 p.m. The series concludes on Saturday with a doubleheader from 1 p.m.
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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting GSEagles.com.
