MOBILE, Ala. - Rylee Waldrep hurled a complete-game six-hitter while Shayla Smith delivered three RBI as Georgia Southern evened up a Sun Belt Conference series at South Alabama with a 5-2 win on Saturday afternoon at Jaguar Field.
The Eagles (20-26, 6-16 SBC) and the Jaguars (17-29, 6-18 SBC) will meet at 1 p.m. on Sunday for the rubber game of the series. Each team is looking for its second Sun Belt series win of the year.
Smith got the Eagles started off right with an RBI single in the second inning, but South Alabama used back-to-back RBI doubles from Brittani Reid and Victoria Ortiz in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Eagles had a runner on with two out when Smith delivered a two-run blast to straightaway center field, giving Georgia Southern back the lead.Â
Four straight singles would bring home two more runs in the inning - Logan Harrell and Ellington Day reached base, then Mekhia Freeman and Hannah Farrell followed with RBIs to make the score 5-2.
Waldrep, meanwhile, kept the Jaguars off balance throughout the contest, finishing off the complete-game victory to improve to 5-12 on the season. She gave up six hits and two runs, walking one while striking out four.
"Overall this was a great team win," Georgia Southern Head Coach Kim Dean said. "I'm extremely proud of how Rylee threw today. She knew we really needed a great outing and she showed up, plus some.Â
"We kinda got together with our team yesterday, and discussed some things that we felt would put in the position to win. And lot of what we talked about was bringing energy and trusting in each other," Dean said about the four-run fourth inning. "There was a lot of excitement in the dugout that translated onto the field. Anytime you can score that amount of runs with two outs, you're fortunate, and that's a team that's starting to click at the right time."
South Alabama starter Alexis Reid (10-16) took the loss for the Jaguars, giving up 10 hits and five runs in 3 2/3 innings of work, walking one while striking out two.
Smith went 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Freeman finished the day with three hits. Farrell and Shelby Wilson added two hits apiece.
