The Georgia Southern softball team swept the opening doubleheader of the series against Appalachian State, winning the first game 6-5 in eight innings, and crushing the Mountaineers 17-3 in the second game.

 Game 1

The Eagles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but errors allowed the Mountaineers to tie the game. The teams matched each other’s scoring for the rest of the game, and the score was tied 3-3 entering the final inning.

Sophomore Morgan Robinson led off the seventh with a single, followed by a two-run bomb from junior A.J. Hamilton that gave the Eagles a 5-3 lead. But, the Mountaineers tied the game up again in the bottom of the inning with a two-run blast of their own.

In the eighth inning, sophomore Taylor Rodgers led off with a single, and then senior Kaitlyn Johnson stroked a double off the fence to score Rodgers. Freshman Heather Felt worked a three-up, three-down final inning to seal the win.

“It was big for us to get these two wins today,” head coach Annie Smith said in a press release.

Felt allowed just five hits and five runs, only two of which were earned. She struck out four batters and picked up her first win in the Sun Belt.

Hamilton led the Eagles with three hits, including the go-ahead home run in the seventh. Robinson and Rodgers picked up two hits apiece on the game.

“We battled back in the first game and got past some errors in the field,” Coach Smith said. “We got some key hits up and down the lineup and Heather (Felt) pitched a great game.”

Game 2

The second game proved to be a blowout. The Eagles collected 15 hits and run-ruled the Mountaineers in five innings.

The Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, and added four more in the second. They were held scoreless in the third, but came back and scored another five runs in the fourth.

The Mountaineers finally broke through in the bottom of the inning, scoring three runs. That was all they got, and the Eagles added seven more runs in the final two innings of the shortened game.

Freshman Kierra Camp pitched for the Eagles and gave up just one earned run on six hits. She struck out five batters to improve her record to 4-9 on the season.

Robinson, Rodgers and freshman Alesha Mann led the Eagles with three hits apiece. Robinson and Hamilton drove in a team-high four runs, and senior Lexi Allen added three RBI’s on the day.

The Eagles will play the final game of the series tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.