GSU and Furman Split Softball Doubleheader on Saturday

TATESBORO, Ga. ­ In a battle of the Southern Conference's second and third ranked teams, Georgia Southern and Furman fought to a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon at Eagle Field. GSU won the opener 2-1 after scoring runs in the sixth and seventh innings to cap a come-from-behind effort. And Furman claimed the second game when Kay Brittain's three-run home run in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie and sent the Paladins on to the 5-3 win.

The second-game loss snapped a seven-game win streak for the Eagles, as they move to 21-26 overall and 11-5 in the SoCon. Furman remains at .500 on the season with a 23-23 record and moves to 9-5 in league play. The split keeps both teams in the hunt for a late-season rally towards a Southern Conference title; more so Georgia Southernas it remains in second place with first-place Chattanooga the only league team left on the Eagles' schedule.

Game-one winner Aimee Littlejohn (7-10) allowed only four hits, one run (unearned) and struck out two, but her offensive support didn't come until the sixth inning. Trailing 1-0, the Eagles' Meghan Correia drew a leadoff walk, was sacrificed over to second, and scored when Stacie Cooper laced a double down the left field line. Georgia Southern then won the game in the bottom of the seventh with Kim Griffin's two-out, run-scoring single that plated Kelly Blazi. Blazi had lead off the inning with a walk and had worked her way around the bases via an error, a sacrifice bunt, and then Griffin's game-winning hit. Chrissy Hacker (12-9) was handed the loss after giving up two runs off six hits. She led the Paladins offensively by going 3-3 from the plate and scored her team's only run. Cooper's 2-3 effort led the winners.

In game two, Brittain's two-out homer in the fifth sent Furman on its way to the win despite having to fight off several late charges by the hosts. The Eagles scored a run in the sixth off Blazi's RBI single, but Paladin starter Kelly Jack got out of the inning with a strikeout, leaving two Eagle runners on base. In the seventh, GSU loaded the bags but couldn't push any runs across in falling 5-3. Jack (8-8) earned the win with six strikeouts. She was pulled with two outs in the seventh, and Missy Baldwin hammered down the last out to record her second save. Janice Savage (8-10) was handed the loss in 5.1 innings of work. Cooper led all hitters by going 3-4 in the losing cause. Five different hitters collected hits for the Paladins.