Coastal Carolina 2, Georgia Southern 1
ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia Southern Softball’s 2012 season came to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 loss to Big South Conference Champion Coastal Carolina at Georgia’s Jack Turner Stadium in the second day of the NCAA Athens Softball Regional. Georgia Southern held the Chanticleers to just two hits, but both hits drove in runs as the Eagles walked six batters and hit another in the defeat.
For the second consecutive day, it was Andrea Tarashuk that drove in the Eagles’ opening run in the fourth inning. GSU put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out in the fourth, but a sacrifice fly from the junior third baseman brought Marie Fogle in for a 1-0 Georgia Southern advantage in the fourth.
Coastal Carolina answered in the bottom of the fourth with a run following a walk and hit by pitch by Sarah Purvis. With runners on first and second, Coastal Carolina’s Jazmin Daigle laced a liner up the middle, scoring a run and ending Purvis’ no-hitter bid.
Purvis faced one batter in the fifth and left the game after allowing a walk to open the frame. She left the game without striking out a batter for the first time this season, and was replaced by Allie Miles. An RBI double by the Chanticleers gave CCU a 2-1 lead. Coastal would go on to load the bases with two outs, but a pop up would quell the threat in the fifth and keep the score at 2-1.
GSU was unable to cut into the deficit and suffered the 2-1 loss. Purvis was handed the defeat and finishes the season at 23-12 in the circle. Miles struck out three in her two innings of work.
The game was the final collegiate contest for seniors Fogle, Mackenzie Williams and Hanna Ennis. Williams received her degree from Georgia Southern one week ago in a ceremony in Boone, N.C. before the Eagles captured the 2012 Southern Conference Championship. Fogle and Ennis are on pace to graduate in the coming months with their degrees from the University.