STATESBORO - The Georgia Southern softball team had to overcome the loss of two starters and then used two late rallies to pull out a pair of victories Friday on the first day of the Eagle Round Robin at Eagle Field. In the opener, the Eagles scored seven runs in the sixth inning to push past IUPUI and then scored three runs in the fifth inning to overtake Morehead State 6-4.

GAME 1: GS 8, IUPUI 3
The Eagles had a little wind in their sails taken out when senior leader Macy Coleman went down with an injury in the first inning while in the field, but they rallied to take the early lead. In the second inning, Hannah Farrell led off with a double to the gap and eventually scored on a passed ball on a two-out, third-strike scenario that kept the inning alive.

IUPUI got a single and a triple in the sixth inning to tie up the game and then got a two-run double to take the lead. Mekhia Freeman was injured on the playing laying out for the ball to try and make the stop in center field.

The Eagles had to rally again after losing a leader in the lineup, and once again overcame adversity. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Logan Harrell blasted a home run off the scoreboard to cut the lead to one. After the Panthers pitched around Shelby Wilson to walk her on four pitches, Farrell launched her second home run of the season to give GS the lead right back. Shayla Smith picked up her first hit as an Eagle and moved up on Macy Weeks' sharp single up the middle before Allyssah Mullis gave GS a 7-3 lead with her first home run of the season. Coleman came back up in the inning and laced a double to the gap to plater Ashlynn Gunter to cap the seven-run stanza.

The freshman trio of Jess Mazur, Ashleigh Morton and Shelby Barfield combined for the action in the circle. Mazur went 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits while walking one in the no decision. Morton (W, 2-2) tossed 1 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout. Barfield went the final inning for the Eagles.

Farrell and Harrell led the way with a pair of hits each while Mullis, Weeks, Smith and Gunter all had one hit.

GAME 2: GS 6, Morehead State 4
After digging deep to rally in the first game, the Eagles jumped on the other Eagles quickly, scoring a run in the first inning. Smith walked to lead off and moved around expeditiously on a wild pitch, a stolen base and then scored on another wild pitch.

Morehead battled back in the top of the third inning, scoring two runs to take its first lead of the game. Shelby Wilson crushed a pitch to left field in the bottom the third inning, her third of the year, to tie it back up. But MSU came right back, stringing together a pair of runs on three hits to take a 4-2 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, GS scored a run on an error and the Ellington Day's second hit of the game drove in a run to tie up the game. Smith's hard single to left field completed the three-run fifth as the Eagles took a 5-4 lead into the sixth inning.

Alia Booth's single up the middle plated the final run of the game

Rylee Waldrep got the start and went four innings. She allowed four runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Kaylee Ramos (W, 1-0) was in for the final three innings to pick up the win. She didn't allow a run or a hit and struck out three.

Farrell, Wilson, Booth and Day all had two hits while Smith and Logan Harrell all had one.

The Eagles (6-3) will return to action on Saturday, taking on Morehead State at 4:30 p.m. and then Mount Saint Mary's at 7 p.m.