ORLANDO, Fla. - The Georgia Southern softball bats came alive in Orlando on Wednesday, collecting 29 hits en route to winning a pair of non-conference games at the UCF Softball Complex. The Eagles defeated UT San Antonio, 12-4, in six innings in game one, then downed host UCF, 7-1, in the second game.
Georgia Southern (17-7) has now won four straight and seven of its last eight heading into this weekend's Sun Belt Conference series against South Alabama in Statesboro. The Eagles and the Jaguars will play a doubleheader on Saturday at Noon, then a single game on Sunday at Noon.
"We had a very strong offensive day today," Georgia Southern Head Softball Coach Kim Dean said. "We had 29 hits and 19 runs, continued to be aggressive with our base running and overall played solid defense. We had a little miscommunication here and there, but other than that, I'm pretty proud of the way we played today. We're really excited to get back into conference play this weekend."
The Eagles scored in each of the first two innings in the first game of the day against UT San Antonio (13-11). Logan Harrell's RBI double and Hannah Farrell's RBI single plated two runs in the first inning, then Alesha Mann delivered an RBI double in the second. Farrell came back in the third with a two-run home run to put Georgia Southern up 5-0.
The Roadrunners closed the gap to one run with a four-run fifth inning, but the Eagles responded in a big way in the bottom of the fifth, plating six runs on a Macy Coleman RBI single, a bases-loaded walk drawn by Shelby Wilson, and a grand slam by Harrell. Coleman then ended the game in the sixth with an RBI single for the final 12-4 margin.
Rylee Waldrep (7-2) notched the win, hurling six innings of five-hit, four-run ball, walking two. Madison Nelson (4-7) took the loss for UTSA, giving up seven hits and five runs - three earned - in three innings of work.
In the second game, the Eagles again got off to a quick start with an error leading to a first-inning run, then RBI singles from Mann and Mekhia Freeman, along with an RBI double from Wilson, putting Georgia Southern up 4-0 in the second inning. Each team plated a run in the fourth inning - UCF on an RBI single from Kyra Klarkowski and the Eagles on an RBI single from Coleman.
An error added another run for the Eagles in the fifth, then Coleman hit a solo shot leading off the sixth to cap Georgia Southern's scoring.
The offense was more than enough for Kierra Camp, who improved to 9-4 on the year with the complete-game performance, giving up eight hits and one run while walking four and striking out three. Kamryn Toney (2-3) took the loss for UCF, giving up eight hits and four runs - three earned - in two innings, walking one while striking out two.
Harrell had the big offensive day for the Eagles as she went 3-for-4 with her grand slam and five RBI in game one, then went 4-for-5 in game two. Coleman had five hits in the two games combined and drove in four, while Farrell was 4-for-7 on the day with three RBI.
