Highlights:
• Win over SC is the 4^th win over an SEC team in program history, 1^st on the road
• Hannah Farrell hit her fourth home run of the season in the second inning
• Alesha Mann hit her seventh home run of the season in the sixth inning
• Lydia Witkowski hit her second home run of the season in the sixth inning
 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sophomore shortstop Alesha Mann was solid both at the plate as well as in the field this past weekend, and she carried over that momentum into Georgia Southern's midweek game at South Carolina Tuesday night as she led the Eagles to a 6-4 win over the Southeastern Conference Gamecocks on the road at Carolina Softball Stadium.
 
The win over SC (32-13) came in the Eagles' fifth game of the season against an SEC opponent and was the fifth time the Eagles have played on the SEC Network+. It is the fourth win in program history against teams from the SEC, but it is the first time the Eagles (26-19) won on the road against opponents from the conference.
 
South Carolina struck first in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, but freshman Hannah Farrell answered for Georgia Southern in the top of the very next inning with a two-run home run over the left field fence. Farrell's fourth homer of the season scored Morgan Robinson in the process, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
 
The Gamecocks matched the Eagles' run output in the bottom of the frame, scoring a pair of runs to retake a one-run lead at 3-2 after two complete innings before things settled down for a while and a pitcher's duel broke out.
 
After three innings passed scoreless, Mann drilled a three-run home run out over the left field fence, scoring Haley Carter and India Davis to give the Eagles the lead back for good. However, the Eagles weren't done scoring as Lydia Witkowski then legged out an inside the park home run to put GS up 6-3.
 
The Gamecocks were able to score a run in the bottom of the seventh to pull within two at 6-4, and then had the tying run at the plate late, but the Eagles slammed the door in a statement win for the 2016 team.
 
In total, seven different players registered a hit as Georgia Southern out-hit South Carolina 9-7. Davis was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with one run scored and senior A.J. Hamilton also recorded two hits, going 2-for-3 in the win.
 
Freshman pitcher Dixie Raley (19-9) made her fourth start against an SEC opponent this season and continued to deliver big results for the Eagles as she pitched the complete game and struck out three batters, two looking, en route to earning the win. The Gamecocks started Jessica Elliott but switched to Nickie Blue (15-10) after three innings.
 
COACH SMITH SAYS
"I am really happy for this team to get a statement win tonight. I keep dragging our team to games against SEC opponents as well as other tough games and they have learned how to compete in big games like this. It was a total team win: Dixie pitched great, the defense was great behind her, Alesha continued to make big plays for us in the field and we had great at-bats up and down the lineup. We had the home runs by Hannah, Alesha and Lydia but we also had solid at-bats from India, Morgan, Emily, Rowan, A.J., and Taylor. I honestly could name everybody on our team right now because they all contributed to this win."

UP NEXT
The Eagles will return to Sun Belt Conference action this weekend with a road trip to Troy, Ala. Georgia Southern and the Trojans of Troy will play a three-game series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m. ET before closing things out on Sunday, April 24 with a single game at 1p.m. ET.
 
 
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