STATESBORO - The Georgia Southern softball squad salvaged the final game of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series from visiting Troy University as all three games of the weekend series were completed on Saturday at Eagle Field. Troy took the first two games by 6-1 scores, while the Eagles claimed a 5-3 win in the final game.

The two teams began their series on Friday evening, but lightning forced the game to be halted in the bottom of the seventh inning with Troy leading by a 6-1 score. The two teams returned to Eagle Field on Saturday morning, finished the first game, then played the final two games of the series. Troy finishes the weekend at 32-14 overall and 14-5 in the Sun Belt, while the Eagles are now 19-21 overall and 5-12 in the league.

"Any time you're leaving runners on base, there's still a positive," Georgia Southern Head Coach Kim Dean said. "It means you're hitting. Troy has a great team and a really good pitching staff. We were putting the ball in play, one of our goals was to have a couple of innings with multiple baserunners on, we were doing that but we just couldn't get that timely hit. But then the floodgates opened there. We had great pitching performances in the third game, a freshman stepping up big in a conference game that we needed in Faith [Shirley], and then a senior just believing in herself in Macy [Coleman] to put the final nail in the coffin. 

GAME ONE: Troy 6, GS 1
The Trojans scored six runs over the game's first four innings, and Annie Willis limited the Eagles to five hits and one run over six innings to give Troy the first game of the series.

Madeline Porter went 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Trojans, while Katie Lively went 2-for-3. The Eagles scored their lone run of the game in the second inning on an Ellington Day RBI double. 

Willis improved to 8-7 with the win, walking two while striking out four in the contest. Rylee Waldrep (4-11) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up five hits and four runs - three earned - in two innings of work, walking one and striking out one.

Day went 2-for-3 with her RBI to lead the Eagles offensively, while Hannah Farrell also had two hits.

GAME TWO: Troy 6, GS 1
The score was the same as game one, but this time it was a two-run first inning for the Trojans, then a four-run seventh inning that won it for Troy. Bailey Taylor had a three-run blast in the four-run seventh, while Katie Webb went 3-for-3 with an RBI.

The Eagles' lone run came in the bottom of the seventh as Shayla Smith blasted her first home run as an Eagle.

Leanna Johnson (22-5) hurled the complete-game six-hitter to notch the win for Troy, giving up one run while striking out three and walking three. Ashleigh Morton (7-5) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up seven hits and six runs - four earned - in 6 1/3 innings of work, walking three while striking out two.

Farrell had two more hits for the Eagles in the contest, while Smith finished the game 2-for-3 with her home run.

GAME THREE: GS 5, Troy 3
The Eagles overcame a three-run Troy third inning to score five runs in the sixth and claim the final game of the series. 

Troy's Stephanie Snyder hit a three-run home run in the third to put the Trojans up by three. The Eagles rallied in the sixth, getting a three-run blast from Faith Shirley to tie the game up at 3-all. Shelby Wilson followed with an infield single to short, then Macy Coleman blasted a two-run home run to left for the final margin.

Shelby Barfield (2-2) notched the win in relief for the Eagles, hurling 2 2/3 innings of ho-hit ball, walking two while striking out one. Willis (8-8) took the loss for the Trojans, giving up nine hits and four runs in five-plus innings of work, striking out two.

Farrell had her third straight two-hit day for the Eagles, while Wilson also notched two hits in the game.