STATESBORO - The
Sharon Perkins Era of Georgia Southern softball got off to a big start Friday on the first day of the Bash in the Boro Tournament as the Eagles rallied late to beat Binghamton, 7-4. A grand slam from senior
Faith Shirley sent the packed house into a frenzy as the Eagles overcame a late three-run deficit with a big fifth inning.
Trailing 3-0 in the second inning,
Janai Conklin roped a double down the line and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt from
Olivia Creamer and scored on
Ashlynn Gunter's squeeze bunt to cut the lead to two.
Gunter drove in her second run of the game with a first-pitch home run to left-center field to lead off the fifth inning. That opened the floodgates as the Eagles went on to put up a six spot. Pinch hitter
Sam Vinson singled to left field to drive in
Aniston Johnson and then Shirley crushed a 2-1 pitch to deep left-center field for the first grand slam of the season to make it 7-4.
That would be enough as the Eagles shut down the Bearcats the rest of the way to pick up the first win of Perkins' GS career.
Conklin and
Madi Banks led the way with two hits each while Vinson, Creamer, Shirley, Gunter and
Chandler Caldwell all had one.
Rylee Waldrep (W, 1-0) went the distance, allowing four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.
GS Scoring Plays:
B2: Gunter out at first 1b to 2b, SAC, bunt, RBI (0-1); Conklin scored.
B5: Gunter homered to left center, RBI (0-0).
B5: Vinson singled to left field, RBI (2-0); Banks advanced to second; Caldwell advanced to third; Johnson scored.
B5: Shirley homered, 4 RBI (2-1); Duty scored; Banks scored; Caldwell scored.
Up Next: The Eagles (1-0) will be back in action on Saturday, taking on Binghamton (12:30 p.m.) and Radford (3 p.m.).
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