STATESBORO - For a second straight day at the Eagle Round Robin, Georgia Southern notched a walk-off win in the final game of the day as Ashlynn Gunter's RBI single gave the Eagles a 2-1 win over the College of Charleston. Winthrop won the first game against Georgia Southern by a 14-3 score.
Georgia Southern moved to 4-8 on the season with the split, and will wrap up action in the Eagle Round Robin on Sunday with a 1:30 p.m. game against the College of Charleston.
"The first game got away from us," Head Coach Kim Dean said. "But we regrouped, refocused and acknowledged the fact that it wasn't a great game, but we definitely knew that it wasn't an indication of who we are. So we flushed it fast, came out here and competed well. The College of Charleston is a really good competitive team. and we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game coming off of losing the first game today. Kyleigh [Richardson] threw a great game, we had really solid defense, and our hitters kept getting deeper in counts and hitting the ball hard. Linzie [Lafavor] led us off with a double in the bottom of the seventh, and [Ashlynn] Gunter just came up at the right time. All in all a great team win, and we can't wait to get back out on the field tomorrow."
GAME ONE: Winthrop 14, Georgia Southern 3
Winthrop (8-8) had 10 consecutive runners reach base in the pivotal fifth inning, breaking open a 4-1 game with a six-run frame to go on to the 14-3 victory.
Faith Shirley hit a solo home run in the third inning for her second round tripper of the season, while Janai Conklin drove in a pair of runs in the fifth to cap her 2-for-2 day with two RBI.
Ansley Gilreath led the Winthrop attack, going 3-for-5 with a home run and six RBI.
Makayla Cyzick (1-2) hurled the complete-game win for Winthrop, giving up eight hits and three runs, walking three and striking out four. Anna Feil (0-2) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up one hit, three runs and three walks in 1/3 of an inning pitched.
GAME TWO: Georgia Southern 2, College of Charleston 1
The Eagles trailed the College of Charleston 1-0 in the fifth when Ashlynn Gunter hit a clutch two-out RBI single to drive in Mekhia Freeman and tie the game up at 1-all.
In the bottom of the seventh, Linzie Lafavor led off the inning with a double, then Aaliyah Garcia moved pinch runner Ashleigh Duty to third with a sacrifice bunt. That brought up Gunter, who hit the walk-off single up the middle off of reliever Lauren Sandor to give the Eagles the 2-1 victory.
Kyleigh Richardson (1-1) hurled the complete-game victory for the Eagles, giving up six hits and one run in seven innings of work, striking out one. Kylie Burke (0-2) took the loss for the College of Charleston, giving up six hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings of work, walking one while striking out eight.
Gunter's two hits and two RBI led the Eagles in game two, while Lafavor also had two hits on the day.