STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Softball team split a pair of games Friday to open the 2017 season at the Eagle Round Robin. GS downed UNCG 3-0 in the opener, but fell 9-2 to Middle Tennessee in the second game of the day. 

GS 3, UNCG 0
In the opener, Andrea McKenzie broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fifth inning, lacing a double to the gap to plate freshman Shelby Wilson from first base. In the sixth inning, India Davis led off with a single and moved to third base on Lydia Witkowski's double to the gap. Both came trotting home on Emily Snider's rocket up the middle to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.

The would be more than enough for sophomore Dixie Raley (W, 1-0), who allowed just one first-inning hit and retired 15 of the final 16 Spartan batters. She walked one and struck out four in the 117-pitch gem. For Raley, it was her fourth-career, one-hit shutout in her brief time in Statesboro.

Davis and Snider led the way with a pair of hits each while Witkowski and McKenzie both had one.

MT 9, GS 2
Middle Tennessee used a single and a walk, combined with a GS error followed by a double to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the night cap. The Blue Raiders tacked on five runs in the third inning to make it a 7-0 game, but the Eagles kept fighting. Davis singled up the middle in the bottom of the third inning and scored all the way from first base on Witkowski's double to the gap.

In the fourth inning, Morgan Robinson crushed the first pitch she saw deep into the Statesboro night to lead off the inning. The Blue Raiders (1-1) got those two runs back in the sixth inning, but Robinson came through again in the seventh, stroking a double off the wall to drive in her second run of the game.

Robinson led the way at the plate, picking up three hits and driving in a pair of runs. Witkowski had two hits while Davis, Hannah Ferrell, McKenzie and Macy Weeks each had one.

Kiera Camp (L, 0-1) got the start and last 2 1/3 innings. The junior allowed six runs (four earned) on five hits with two walks and a strikeout. Heather Felt pitched four innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with a strikeout and three walks. Amanda Chambers pitched the final 2/3 of the game, giving up a hit.

OTHER SCORES
#15 Tennessee 10, Tennessee Tech 0
#15 Tennessee 3, Middle Tennessee 0
UNCG 6, Tennessee Tech 3

UP NEXT:
The Eagles (1-1) will play two more games on Saturday, taking on No. 15 Tennessee at 3:30 p.m., and then Tennessee Tech at 5:30 p.m.