STATESBORO - Georgia Southern scored nine runs in the fifth inning to blast past Georgia State and claim not only a Sun Belt Series win over the Panthers, but a berth in the upcoming 2019 Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 10-1 win Friday night at Eagle Field.

The Eagles (22-27, 8-17 SBC) will finish ahead of Georgia State (8-45, 5-21 SBC) and South Alabama in the standings after tomorrow's final day of league play. Georgia Southern will either be the seventh or eighth seed, depending on what happens in the final game of the Eagles' series with Georgia State, a doubleheader between ULM and Louisiana as well as South Alabama's final game with Troy. Saturday will be Senior Day for the Eagles with game time moved up to 11 a.m. due to expected afternoon weather in Statesboro.

Each team scored a single run in the third inning as Gabby Benson's two-out RBI single in the top half of the frame put the Panthers up 1-0, but Macy Coleman responded with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.

The pivotal fifth inning started with Shelby Wilson drawing a one-out walk, then Faith Shirley delivering a two-run home run to left center field to give the Eagles the lead. Georgia Southern loaded the bases, then Ellington Day drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 4-1, and Mekhia Freeman followed with a two-run single.

The exclamation point was provided by Wilson as she came up with the bases loaded and drilled a grand slam off the top of the center field fence, ending the game and sending the Eagles to San Marcos.

The series win also clinches a point in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series, closing the gap to 11.0-7.0 following the Softball win.

Kaylee Ramos (3-2) notched the complete-game win for the Eagles, giving up just two hits and one run in five innings, walking four and striking out three. Georgia State reliever Savannh Freeman (3-13) took the loss for the Panthers, giving up two hits and three runs in two innings of work, walking two and striking out one.

"Tonight was another great performance by [Kaylee] Ramos, She fought through, kept us in the game and really kept their hitters off balance," Georgia Southern Head Coach Kim Dean said. "In the fifth, you saw what this lineup is capable of doing. All of our kids can hit the longball. They were very unselfish with some disciplined at-bats, and most of those runs came with two outs."