This weekend, the Georgia Southern University softball team traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to compete in the Purple & Gold Challenge. The first game against Central Arkansas was scheduled for Friday afternoon but was moved to Saturday because of the heavy rain.

The Eagles got on the board first with Morgan Robinson hitting a single, which brought India Davis home. Unfortunately, this would be the only run scored as Central Arkansas’s Kayla Gomness only allowed three hits on the day.

Sophomore pitcher Dixie Raley was having a stellar outing until the fifth inning, where she would allow five runs on four hits. Two GS errors didn’t help Raley’s struggles in this inning. Raley ended her day with five runs, three walks and six strikeouts. The final score ended up being 6-1 in favor of the Bears.

The dismal Saturday wouldn’t be over for the Eagles as the next game up was against the #8 LSU Tigers. The game began with a two run first inning for LSU and then extended their lead with four runs in both the second and third inning.

Georgia Southern finally scored in the fifth inning with a Lydia Witkowski RBI. Kierra Camp got the start for the Eagles, but Kaylee Ramos, Heather Felt and Amanda Chambers also got playing time in the 10-1 loss.

Sunday began with an early morning 5-2 win over Central Arkansas. The Bears scored first, but the Eagles took the lead in the fourth inning off of Emily Snider’s triple scoring Witkowski and Robinson’s RBI bringing Snider to home plate. The scoring continued in the fifth as the Eagles had three more runs. Camp earned the win allowing two runs, eight walks and two strikeouts in just over six innings.

The challenge ended for the Eagles Sunday afternoon in a hard-fought battle against LSU. The game looked like it was going to be a repeat of Saturday’s blowout as the Tigers scored two runs in the first. Morgan Robinson responded in the second inning with a solo home run, her second of the season.

The Eagles continued with the hot bats, scoring three more runs in the second inning to make it a 4-2 lead. The Tigers made it a game scoring two in the second inning. LSU matched the Eagles’ poor offense with a three-run fourth inning, making the final score 7-4.

Georgia Southern will travel to Kissimmee, Florida this weekend to take place in the Citrus Classic to play Elon, Morgan State, Ball State, Lehigh and Fordham.