MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. - The Georgia Southern softball squad opened up action in the 2019 Madeira Beach Softball Invitational on Friday, dropping a pair of games at ROC Park in Madeira Beach, Fla. The Eagles lost to Florida A&M, 5-1, and FIU, 6-5.

Play continues for the Eagles in the Madeira Beach Invitational on Saturday as Georgia Southern (11-6) will face Boston College at 1:30 p.m. and St. John's at 6:30 p.m.

"Any time you can be out playing ball in sunny Florida, it's a great day," Georgia Southern Head Coach Kim Dean said. "We're continuing to learn how to play together, but I need to continue to work at preparing us to play, to get our student-athletes to understand the energy and effort needed to continuously compete against the quality talent we'll be facing day in and day out. 

"We had a good opportunity to take game two with extremely timely hitting from Mekhia Freeman and Shelby Wilson," Coach Dean said. "But we just fell a little short to an outstanding team in FIU. We have an opportunity to take two tomorrow against Boston College and St. John's."

GAME ONE: Florida A&M 5, GS 1

The Rattlers jumped in front of the Eagles with a two-run third inning on an error and an RBI single by Kyaira Brown. Tyra Bowers tacked on a run with an RBI single in the fourth.

The Eagles got on the board in the sixth on a solo home run by freshman Faith Shirley, but Florida A&M's Alexis Day blasted a two-run home run in the seventh to clinch the win.

In addition to going 1-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, Brown hurled a complete-game six-hitter, striking out two and giving up just one run for the win, improving to 2-3 on the year. Jess Mazur (2-1) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up two hits and two runs in three innings of work, walking two and striking out one.

GAME TWO: FIU 6, GS 5

A back-and-forth affair saw both the Eagles and the Panthers come up with clutch late-inning hits, but it was two runs in the bottom of the seventh that gave FIU the one-run win.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead on a home run by Jessica Rivera in the second, but Mekhia Freeman's two-out RBI single in the third tied the game at 1-1. FIU went back in front in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Natalie Orcutt.

Shelby Wilson tied things up in the fifth with an RBI single, but the Panthers scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.

Logan Harrell's team-high fifth home run of the season cut the lead to 4-3 in the sixth, then Wilson delivered a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the seventh to give the Eagles a 5-4 lead. FIU would win the game with two in the seventh on RBI singles by Jackie Schoff and Orcutt.

FIU reliever Allison Muraskin (3-3) picked up the win by striking out the only batter she faced in the seventh. Rylee Waldrep (3-3) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up 11 hits and six runs - four earned - in 6 1/3 innings of work, striking out one.

Wilson's two hits and three RBI led the Eagles at the plate in game two, while Freeman and Harrell also had two hits apiece.