TROY, Ala. - The Georgia Southern softball squad outlasted Troy, 6-5, in a wild nine-inning contest to earn a Sun Belt Conference-opening doubleheader split with the Trojans on Friday in Troy, Ala. The Trojans took the first game of the day, 6-3.
The Eagles (14-7, 1-1 SBC) and the Trojans (14-7, 1-1 SBC) will meet at 1 p.m. on Saturday to wrap up the series. Troy's five-game win streak was halted with the second game loss, while the Eagles have now won three out of their last four.
The second game of the doubleheader started off quickly with Alesha Mann leading off the game with a solo home run to left field. Troy took advantage of a leadoff error to plate two runs in the third inning, taking a 2-1 lead on an RBI double by Logan Calhoun and an RBI single by M. Porter.
Macy Coleman's RBI single in the fourth tied the score at 2-all, which is where it stayed until extra innings. Shelby Wilson broke the tie in the top of the eighth with a solo blast to straightaway center field, and the Eagles added an important insurance run later in the inning with a sacrifice fly by Mekhia Freeman.
The Trojans tied things up in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run home run from Katie Webb, sending the game to the ninth. Wilson again stepped up with the heroics, driving in a pair of runs with a one-out double to make the score 6-4.
In the bottom of the ninth, Calhoun singled in a run to cut the lead to one, 6-5. Reliever Kylee Ramos got the next batter out on a popup, then a walk loaded the bases with two outs. Ramos induced a game-ending popup to first to close out the win.
Rylee Waldrep (5-2) notched the win for the Eagles, hurling 8 1/3 innings and giving up eight hits and five runs - three earned - while walking three and striking out a season-high seven. Ramos earned her second save of the season with 2/3rds of an inning of one-hit shutout ball. Peyton Glover (5-1) took the loss for the Trojans, giving up 10 hits and six runs - five earned - in 8 1/3 innings of work, walking one and striking out two.
"I was extremely proud of our resiliency, and the unwillingness of our team to stop playing hard," Georgia Southern Head Coach Kim Dean said about the game two win and the split. "We battled the entire game. We got a lot of timely hitting, had good baserunning and a clutch performance by Kaylee Ramos to come into the situation she did in the bottom of the ninth inning and get those final outs for us."
In game one, the Eagles held a 2-0 lead in the fourth on Hannah Farrell's two-run home run, but Troy scored a single run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double by Carli Kayler. The Trojans surged for three runs in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead, and the Eagles cut the lead to one on Logan Harrell's RBI double in the sixth, but Troy clinched the game with two runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Stephanie Snyder and Bailey Taylor.
Annie Willis (5-1) picked up the win for the Trojans with seven innings of five-hit, three-run ball, walking one while striking out four. Kierra Camp (8-4) took the loss in game one for the Eagles, giving up eight hits and four runs in 4 1/3 innings of work, walking three.
"Opening up Sun Belt conference play, we understood how competitive the league is and how we would need to play at a high level," Coach Dean said. "In the first game, we didn't capitalize on a few of our opportunities and it cost us. But I'm very proud about how we bounced back in the second game. We are looking forward to what should be another tough game tomorrow, but we'll fight and try to come away with the series."
Mann led the Eagles at the plate in the doubleheader with four hits, including a double and a home run, while Wilson went 2-for-5 with three RBI in game two.
