STATESBORO, Ga. – With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Georgia Southern hit a walk-off double to bring a runner across the plate and take another conference win over the ULM softball team, 4-3, on Saturday, March 7, at Eagle Field.
"Our team fought hard and battled all the way to the end which makes me really excited moving forward," head coach Molly Fichtner said.
After a scoreless first inning, the Warhawks (9-13, 0-2 Sun Belt) had an opportunity in the top of the second to take an early lead but couldn't put any runs on the board. Senior Jessie Watts singled up the middle and sophomore Jessica Williams singled down the left field line. Both ladies advanced on a sac bunt and ULM loaded the bases with one out after freshman Jacelyn Buck walked, but couldn't bring any runs home and the game stayed scoreless.
"Every time you have runners in scoring position, and you leave them out there, it's going to come back and bite you at some point," Fichtner said. "I think if we had a few more timely hit balls in the first few innings, it's a completely different ball game."
Both teams stayed deadlocked for half of the game until the Eagles (13-9, 2-0 Sun Belt) took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Olivia Creamer tripled down the right field line and was able to come home on a sac fly by Allyssah Mullis to take a 1-0 lead.
"Our defense really bounced back today after yesterday," Fichtner said. "There were one or two miscues, but when there was a miscue, they came right back and got the next girl out."
The Warhawks rebounded in the top of the fifth when senior Jayden Mount blasted a solo shot over the left wall, her second home run of the season, to tie the game up at one.
"Jayden's home run set the tone when we really needed a score and she had a great day," Fichtner said.
In the bottom of the sixth, Georgia Southern regained the lead when Creamer singled up the middle and came home when Ellington Day popped a two-run homer, her second home run of the year, over the left center wall to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
In the top of the seventh, ULM looked down with two outs, but two runs came across the plate to keep the Warhawks alive. Buck walked and advanced to second on a ground out. Sophomore Korie Kreps singled to bring Buck home from second and only be down by one. ULM loaded the bases and Watts singled to the pitcher to bring Kreps home and tie the game up at three.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bailee Wilson walked and Faith Shirley doubled to right field. During the throw, Wilson came home to give Georgia Southern the 4-3 win.
Mount went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run and an RBI. Watts hit 2-for-4 and got an RBI as well. Kreps and Williams accounted for two hits, a run and an RBI while Buck scored a run.
Sophomore pitcher Adrianna Chavarria (0-1) got her first start of the season and pitched a complete game during the loss. She gave up four runs on eight hits in six innings while striking out two batters and walking four.
"Adrianna kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win, but we left eight people on base," Fichtner said. "When you leave eight people on base, that's eight runs you're not scoring."
Rylee Waldrep (5-4) pitched a complete game for the Eagles and gave up three runs on seven hits. She struck out two batters and walked four more.
ULM will wrap up the conference series against Georgia Southern on Sunday, March 8, on ESPN+. First pitch is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. Links to live stats and video can be found on the softball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
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