STATESBORO - Sophomore Bailee Wilson's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning gave Georgia Southern softball a walk-off 4-3 win over South Alabama, clinching the Sun Belt Conference series for the Eagles on Saturday afternoon at Eagle Field.

Georgia Southern improves to 13-25 overall with the win and a 5-14 mark in the Sun Belt, while South Alabama falls to 25-15 and 12-7, suffering just its second Sun Belt series loss of the year. The two teams wrap up their three-game series on Sunday with a 12:30 p.m. contest at Eagle Field

South Alabama jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a two-run home run in the top of the first inning by Abby Krzywiecki. The Eagles' Janai Conklin answered with a solo home run of her own in the bottom of the second, then Mekhia Freeman tied the game with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third.

The score remained tied at 2-all until the top of the sixth, when a walk, a sacrifice and an RBI single by pinch hitter Shelby Sloan gave the visiting Jaguars a 3-2 lead.

Freshman Aniston Johnson launched a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extras for the Eagles. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Ashlynn Gunter led off the inning with a double to right field. A sacrifice bunt by Freeman put pinch runner Alisha House on third base with less than two out. A hard-hit line drive by Faith Shirley was snared by South Alabama's Krzywiecki at first base, but Wilson then delivered the walk-off single to right for the victory.

"I was never fearful of us not finding a way to score," Georgia Southern Head Coach Kim Dean said about the late-game situations. "We have a freshman stepping up in the bottom of the seventh and driving a ball. Then our leadoff into the bottom of the eighth giving you that kind of energy. It was exciting. South Alabama is a great team, but as I've said before, we are a very scary team. Our record is not an indication of who we are. We have 25 women who are fighting for each other, wanting to celebrate everything and anything they can."

Harlee Rewis (2-2) picked up the win in relief for Georgia Southern with two innings of one-hit shutout ball. Rylee Waldrep got the start and pitched four innings of four-hit, two-run ball, while Kyleigh Richardson gave up just one hit and one run in two innings of work. Jenna Hardy (2-2) went the distance for South Alabama, giving up seven hits and four runs in 7 2/3 innings of work, walking one and striking out seven. 

"The wheels could have fallen off in the first inning," Coach Dean said of her team's pitching on Saturday. "But Rylee stayed confident and trusted our pitch calling. Kyleigh and Harlee came in and held them down, which gave us the opportunity to get our momentum going. All three of our pitchers were amazing today."

The win snapped a streak of six straight games the Eagles had lost in extra innings. Prior to Sunday, the Eagles' last extra-inning win was a 6-4 eight inning win over Furman on February 26, 2019, at Eagle Field.