BATON ROUGE, La. - The Georgia Southern softball team split a pair of games on the final day of the Purple & Gold Challenge, downing Central Arkansas 5-2 before falling to No. 7 LSU 7-4. The Eagles rallied for the win in the opener thanks to an RBI triple from Emily Snider and then gave the nationally ranked Tigers all they could handle before LSU came back late.

GS 5, UCA 2
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, the Eagles finally got things rolling in the fourth inning. Lydia Witkowski picked up the Eagles' first hit, an infield single to second base. She scored on Emily Snider's triple to right field and GS took the lead on Morgan Robinson's RBI ground out. In the fifth inning, Meredith McLendon reached on an infield single and was pinch ran for by Haley Carter, who eventually scored on an error. One batter later, freshman Mekhia Freeman doubled to the gap to plate Witkowski and give the Eagles a three-run lead. After moving to third base on a wild pitch, Freeman scored on an illegal pitch.

The Bears got one run back in the sixth inning and tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with none out. Dixie Raley came on in relief and got a strikeout and two fly outs to preserve the win.

The Eagles recorded five hits in the game, two from Freeman and one apiece from Witkowski, Snider and McLendon. 

Kierra Camp (W, 1-2) went six-plus innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts. She worked around eight walks and stranded 11 UCA runners on the base paths. Dixie Raley got her first save of the season, picking up three outs and recording a strikeout.

#7 LSU 7, GS 4
LSU used three hits in the first inning to plate two runs, but the Eagles responded in the second inning when Robinson launched her second home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. The Eagles then loaded up the bases for Alesha Mann, who dropped in a single to the gap to tie the game up. Witkowski then singled to right-center to drive in Macy Weeks to give GS the 3-2 lead and force a pitching change before Freeman's sacrifice fly gave the Eagles a two-run lead.

The Tigers clawed their way back into it, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning and then three more in the fourth inning to break the game open thanks to  a pair of hits from Bailey Landry that drove in four runs.

At the plate, Witkowski, Robinson, Weeks and Mann had the hits for the Eagles. Dixie Raley went the distance in the circle, striking out four LSU batters.

UP NEXT:
The Eagles will be back in action next weekend, participating in the Citrus Classic I at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida. They'll take on Elon, Morgan State, Ball State, Lehigh and Fordham while in the Orlando area.