Eagles Take Two from Jacksonville
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern softball team swept Tuesday afternoon’s doubleheader versus Jacksonville. The wins are the fifth and sixth in a row for the Eagles.
Georgia Southern 6, Jacksonville 1
The Eagles broke out to an early lead in the bottom of the second as Maria Laurato came in to score on an RBI double to left by Sam Russo.
Pat Melo singled for Jacksonville in the third, scoring Valerie Alter and tying the game 1-1.
Georgia Southern answered with a run in the fourth when Katie Smith scored on a Jacksonville error.
The Eagles added four runs in the sixth inning. Lindsey Hopkins hit an RBI single through the left side that plated Aubrey Thweatt and a three-run homerun by Robyne Siliga gave GSU a 6-1 advantage.
Hopkins, Siliga and Laurato each collected two hits for the Eagles.
Melissa Laliberte (3-3) pitched a one-run complete game, striking out six Dolphin batters and walking none. Katie Buell (1-5) gave up nine hits, six runs, walked three and struck out five on the loss.
Georgia Southern 10, Jacksonville 0
The Eagles kept their bats alive for the start of game two, putting up five runs on six hits in the bottom of the first. Maria Laurato and Jenny Side each knocked RBI doubles as Georgia Southern took an early 5-0 lead.
Side led off the bottom of the second with a solo shot to left field. A sacrifice fly scored Robyne Siliga to give Georgia Southern a 7-0 advantage.
With a runner on second in the third inning, Side homered again, driving in her third and fourth RBI of the game. Siliga scored the Eagles’ 10th run of the game on an infield bunt single by Aubrey Thweatt.
The Eagles recorded 10 hits, led by Side who went 3-for-3 in the game.
Logan Free (4-2) pitched a one-hit shutout for the Eagles, striking out four batters. Brittany Abbott (0-1) took the loss for Jacksonville.
Chattanooga Takes UAB to 10 Innings for a Game Two Win
Chattanooga, Tenn. ? Senior Jeannie Cochran (Maryville, Tenn.) hit the game-winning two-out single to drive in the winning run in the Lady Mocs’ 3-2 victory over the UAB Blazers in game two on Tuesday night.
Freshman Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) scored the winning run after being placed on second base in the bottom of the eighth inning, according to the tiebreaker rule.
“I was really impressed with how the team came back after a tough loss in the first game and came back to win the second game,” Chattanooga head coach Frank Reed said. “It shows a lot of character and maturity for a freshman pitcher to be able to pitch 10 innings and come out with the win.”
The split makes Chattanooga’s record now 7-7 on the season and 6-3 at home. The Blazers’ record now sits at 10-7 overall, 3-4 on the road.
Freshman Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) recorded her fifth win of the season, making it five straight, after throwing 11 strikeouts and only walking two batters on 35 batters faced. She struck out two batters in the top of the 10th.
Junior Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) helped put the Lady Mocs on the board first in her two-out RBI single up the middle to send Eason home, chalking up two more hits in the bottom of the fifth for the team.
The Blazers tied up the game in the top of the sixth on third baseman Nicole Tumlin’s solo home run over the left field fence.
Game two looked to be wrapped up on a two-out fly ball to right field by freshman Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.) before UAB right fielder Allison Davis dropped it allowing Blosser to reach second and scoring sophomore Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.), the placed runner in the eighth inning.
Chattanooga fell to the Blazers in game one 3-0 only tallying three hits on 23 at bats. UAB capitalized on one Chattanooga error and eight hits, including a home run by catcher Andrea Rogers in the first inning.
Sophomore Ashley Cuticchia (Rising Fawn, Ga.), Blosser and Upchurch had one hit each in game one.
The Lady Mocs head to Atlanta, Ga., Wednesday afternoon to face No. 30 Georgia Tech in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.