TROY, Ala. - The Georgia Southern softball squad claimed a Sun Belt Conference-opening series from host Troy with a 3-2 win over the Trojans on Saturday afternoon in Troy, Ala.
The Eagles (15-7, 2-1 SBC) have won four out of their last five and will now step out of conference play to take on UT San Antonio and UCF on Wednesday, March 14th, in Orlando. Troy falls to 14-8 overall and 1-2 in the Sun Belt with the loss.
"I think it's huge," Head Coach Kim Dean said about capturing the first Sun Belt series of the year for the Eagles. "Momentum is everything you look for as a coach. To start off our conference schedule with a tough, hard-fought series can give us a good blueprint on how we need to just believe in ourselves. Grinding it out, constantly fighting - those are our mantras."
Troy would strike first in the contest, getting a sacrifice fly from Carli Kayler in the second to take a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles got two runners on in the second, third and fourth innings against Troy hurler Annie Willis, but finally broke through in the fifth for the tying run on Mekhia Freeman's bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
The Trojans retook the lead in the fifth on Katie Webb's RBI single, plating Kayler with an unearned run. Georgia Southern then took the lead for good in the sixth on Shelby Wilson's one-out, two-run double that plated Alesha Mann and India Davis.
Kaylee Ramos entered into the ballgame with the one-run lead for the Eagles and got out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the seventh, getting a foulout and a fielder's choice to close out the win and notch her third save of the season.
Rylee Waldrep improved to 6-2 on the season with the win, hurling five innings of five-hit ball, giving up two runs - one earned - and two walks while striking out one. Ramos hurled two innings of one-hit shutout ball for the save. Willis (5-2) took the loss for the Trojans, giving up seven hits and three runs in 5 1/3 innings of work, walking five while striking out five.
Wilson finished the game 3-for-3 with her double and two RBI to pace the Eagles offensively. Webb's two hits led Troy on the day.
"Shelby Wilson came up huge this weekend for us," Dean said about the weekend series. "But we also needed people on in front of her doing their job. We got a lot of two-out RBIs that every coach is looking for. Our defense is something we can continue to work on, getting outs that are given to us and not putting additional pressure on us by giving teams extra outs. Our pitchers continue to pound the zone. We've been using all our pitchers and they're stepping up in the moments that they can and shutting down a very tough offensive team. Troy is an outstanding competitor and will do very well in the Sun Belt this year."
