MOBILE, Ala. - Seventh-seeded Georgia State scored nine runs over the final three innings to eliminate 10th-seeded Georgia Southern, 9-1, in the first round of the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Softball Tournament on Tuesday afternoon from Mobile.
The Panthers (20-31) move on to the double elimination portion of the tournament, where they will face South Alabama on Wednesday. Georgia Southern sees its season come to a close with a 13-34 overall record and falls to 0-7 all-time in Sun Belt Conference tournament action.
Rylee Waldrep and Emily Buck, the starters for the Eagles and Panthers, each put up three scoreless innings to start the contest. Waldrep escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second thanks to a strikeout and a fly out.
Georgia State struck first with three unearned runs in the fourth, taking advantage of one Eagle error. The Eagles got a run back in the top of the fifth as Sam Vinson led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. Ashleigh Duty re-entered the game to run and stole second, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Madi Banks. She would then score on a sacrifice fly by Courtney Ball to make the score 3-1.
The Panthers scored twice in the fifth to chase Waldrep, then closed out the win with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Waldrep (6-14) took the loss for the Eagles, giving up four hits and three unearned runs in 3 2/3 innings of work, walking two while striking out four. Emily Buck (8-7) notched the win for the Panthers, giving up three hits and one run in five innings, walking one while striking out one.
