STATESBORO - Georgia Southern softball used a three-run third inning and strong pitching to notch a 3-1 Sun Belt Conference series-opening victory over visiting Coastal Carolina on Friday afternoon at Eagle Field.

The win halts a four-game slide for the Eagles (14-11, 1-3 SBC), while Coastal Carolina (21-5, 3-1 SBC) sees its eight-game win streak come to a close. The two teams will continue their league series on Saturday with a single game at 2 p.m.

All of the Eagles' offense in the game came in a three-run third inning that staked Georgia Southern to the early advantage. Faith Shirley led off the inning with a single, then Mekhia Freeman laid down a bunt that settled just inside the first base foul line, beating it out for a single. Logan Harrell then followed with an RBI single to right center field for the first run, then a Shelby Wilson ground out to short brought home the second run. Hannah Farrell capped the inning with a single to center.

Meanwhile, three Eagle pitchers limited the top power hitting team in the Sun Belt to eight hits and one run over seven innings, with no extra base hits. Ashleigh Morton hurled two innings of shutout ball to start the game, then Shelby Barfield worked a scoreless inning. Freshman Jodi Handler, making her Eagle debut, followed with four innings of four-hit, one-run ball, striking out four to earn her first win as an Eagle.

"This was a great bounce back for us," Georgia Southern Head Softball Coach Kim Dean said. "Every weekend in the Sun Belt is tough The girls just really bought in to staying true to who they are, taking confident cuts and trusting what we were trying to accomplish today., including executing when we needed to. We had some outstanding pitching, keeping a great hitting team in Coastal Carolina down. All in all, it was just a great day."

Coastal Carolina's lone run came in the fifth inning, courtesy of a Stavi Augur two-out RBI single. Kaitlin Beasley-Polko (12-3) took the loss for the Chanticleers, giving up seven hits and three run in six innings of work, walking three while striking out seven.

Shirley and Ashlynn Gunter had two hits apiece to lead the Eagles offensively at the plate. Sydney Guess had two hits for Coastal Carolina.