STATESBORO, Ga. - UL Monroe held off a seventh-inning rally from Georgia Southern softball to claim a 7-5 Sun Belt Conference win over the Eagles on Sunday, salvaging a game in the three-game series.
Georgia Southern (21-10, 6-3 SBC) still claims its third straight Sun Belt series win starting the league schedule, while UL Monroe picks up a win in the third game of a league series for a second straight weekend, moving to 13-13 overall and 3-6 in the Sun Belt. The Eagles return to action on Friday, March 30, visiting Texas State for a 2 p.m. ET doubleheader in San Marcos, Texas.
"I thought we showed great fight until the end, with a good push in the seventh inning," Georgia Southern Head Coach Kim Dean said. "We just came up a little bit short. We're still working to find a way to complete a weekend series sweep, but anytime you can take a third consecutive conference series, you're heading in the right direction. We're looking forward to taking on Texas State this coming week in what should be a great series."
The Eagles scored their first two runs of the game on solo home runs as Shelby Wilson went deep in the first inning and Macy Coleman blasted one in the second. UL Monroe notched a single run in the second on an RBI single from Brie Wrobel, then tied the game up in the fourth on a double steal.
The score stayed tied until the sixth inning, when UL Monroe plated three runs on an RBI single from Rochelle Roberts and a two-run single from Cheyanne Lyon for the 5-2 lead. The Warhawks then added two important insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Roberts.
The Eagles, who won both of Saturday's games via late inning magic, had a little more in store in the bottom of the seventh as Logan Harrell's RBI single, Allyssah Mullis' RBI groundout and an error plated three runs, making the score 7-5. With runners at the corners and two out, UL Monroe reliever Jesse Watts got a fielder's choice to end the game and preserve the tight victory.
Paige Murray (6-3) notched the win for ULM, giving up six hits and two runs in six innings of work, walking two while striking out one. Kaylee Ramos (2-2) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up six hits and five runs - four earned - in a career-high 5 1/3 innings of work, striking out three.
Harrell went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Eagles at the plate, while Lyon and Hunter Hogan each went 3-for-4 for the Warhawks.
