STATESBORO - Georgia Southern softball wrapped up its Fall schedule last weekend, concluding the competitive portion of new Head Coach Sharon Perkins' first Fall with the squad after taking the position in May.

The Eagles played three home doubleheaders against Georgia junior colleges and then wrapped up the schedule with a 10-inning affair against Georgia Tech at the Adel-Cook Sports Complex in Adel, Ga. The Eagles and the Yellow Jackets helped christen the brand new multi-million dollar facility in front of more than 600 fans to cap the Fall on a high note.

Georgia Southern swept the doubleheaders against ABAC, Georgia Military College and Georgia Highlands at Eagle Field. The game against Georgia Tech went to the Yellow Jackets, 6-1.

After the Fall portion, Coach Perkins was encouraged with how coachable the Eagle student-athletes have been in their first extended time with the new staff.

"They've shown a great attitude and a great work ethic, and they're buying into what we're trying to do," Coach Perkins said. "They did have to come a long way, but they're taking ownership and also taking pride in making plays. I wasn't sure out of the gate if they would be able to do it."

Even though the competition part of the Fall is done, there's still a lot of work to be done before the Eagles open up the 2022 campaign in February.

"We still have three weeks of individuals and getting back to small groups stuff," Coach Perkins said. "And now that we've faced off against different type of pitching, we can start to focus on what each individual needs to do. We're also going to be doing some more fundamentals with the infield and the outfield. It's mostly trying to fix some of the things that happen in a game, some technique stuff that we need to do to get better."

The final game of the Fall schedule was a treat not only for Perkins but also for incoming freshman Jacey Boykin, who played at Cook County HS before joining the Eagles this Fall. Overall, the experience was one that Coach Perkins was glad her team got to take part in.

"It was a neat experience," Coach Perkins said. "Anytime that you can go somewhere that people aren't super familiar with your team, or your school, it's great. Seeing some of the younger travel teams, shagging batting practice balls - that was neat to see. Our kids were once those kids, and now they are role models. We've been having good crowds at our place for our Fall games, but it was packed around the whole field. It was also awesome for Jacey to be right across the street from her high school. And when she came to the plate, everybody was rooting for her.

"It was a pretty big game, for us to go up against Georgia Tech," Coach Perkins said of the school she served as Head Coach at from 2007-13. "For me it was cool, A-Mo [GT Head Coach Aileen Morales] was there, and I knew a lot of those kids. I coached them growing up. But the whole day was good for us. We need to be out there, so these kids and families realize that they can do it. Our kids were in that same situation once upon a time."

Georgia Southern will open up the 2022 season in the second week of February. The full schedule will be released later this month.