AUBURN, Ala. - The Georgia Southern softball squad split a pair of games on the first day of the Auburn Tiger Invitational on Friday from Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Ala.
The Eagles defeated Binghamton, 8-2, in the day's first action, then fell to host Auburn, 5-4, in nine innings in the second game.
Georgia Southern continues action in the Invitational with two games on Saturday, taking on Big 10 foe Minnesota at 11 a.m., then facing off against Binghamton at 1:30 p.m.
"Great first game, offensively we did well all day, getting runners on and being productive," Georgia Southern Head Softball Coach Kim Dean said. "I'm proud of Rylee and her career high 10 strikeouts against Binghamton. I believe our team used some of that momentum, and lessons from Wednesday night, into our second game against Auburn. It was hard fought, Auburn is a great team that we feel confident we can compete against. We just need to find ways to get another run or two across the board. I'm extraordinarily proud of them."Â
GAME ONE: Georgia Southern 8, Binghamton 2
The Eagles clubbed three two-run home runs in downing the Bearcats, earning Georgia Southern Head Softball Coach Kim Dean her 100th career collegiate coaching victory.
Bailee Wilson hit a two-run home run in the first inning to put the Eagles up by two. Binghamton scored one run in the bottom of the first, then Mekhia Freeman delivered a two-run shot for the Eagles in the fourth to make the score 4-1.
After a solo home run from Binghamton's Kassidy Seary in the fifth, the Eagles put the game away in the sixth with four runs on a Freeman sacrifice fly, a two-run home run from Faith Shirley and an RBI double from Alia Booth.
Rylee Waldrep improved 4-2 on the season with the complete-game five-hitter, giving up two runs and two walks while striking out a career-high 10 batters. Binghamton's Morgan Bienkowski (0-3) took the loss for the Bearcats, giving up five hits and four runs in 3 2/3 innings of work, walking four and striking out seven.
Booth's three hits and Freeman's three RBI led the Eagles at the plate in game one.
GAME TWO: Auburn 5, Georgia Southern 4 (9 inn.)
Auburn went extra innings to knock off the Eagles in come-from-behind fashion in the second game of the day for Georgia Southern.
Mekhia Freeman got the Eagles on the board with a solo home run in the first inning, her fifth of the season, setting a new season-high in home runs just 17 games into the season.
Auburn scored in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Tannon Snow. But the Eagles retook the lead in the top of the third on three straight singles by Freeman, Faith Shirley and Bailee Wilson.
The Eagles tacked on another run in the top of the fourth on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Bailee Wilson, scoring Olivia Creamer to make the score 3-1.
Auburn closed to within one in the fifth inning with three straight singles from Alyssa Rivera, Makenna Dowell and Tannon Snow that plated a run. The Tigers then tied things up with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run by Alyssa Rivera, sending the game into extra innings.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect in the ninth inning, the Eagles took a 4-3 lead on a sacrifice fly by Janai Conklin. In the bottom of the ninth, Auburn tied things up on a sacrifice fly by Tyler King, then Rivera ended the game with an RBI single up the middle.
The Eagles were 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the contest against the Tigers.
Aaliyah Garcia (4-3) took the loss for the Eagles in her longest outing of the year, giving up nine hits and five runs - four earned - in 8 2/3 innings of work, walking one while striking out six. Samantha Yarbrough (3-0) got the win in relief for the Tigers, giving up one hit and one unearned run in four innings, walking two while striking out four.
Freeman went 3-for-4 in the second game for the Eagles, while Olivia Creamer went 2-for-4.
