Trojans Fall to Georgia Southern

Saturday, March 10

Troy, Ala.

12 PM

Troy University

14-8, 1-2

Georgia Southern

15-7, 2-1

Georgia Southern

Troy

3/10/2018 3:29:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Grace Bolin

TROY, Alabama- Troy softball (14-8, 1-2 SBC) fell in another close matchup to the Georgia Southern Eagles (15-7, 2-1 SBC) 3-2 on Saturday at the Troy Softball Complex in the final day of the Sun Belt Conference opener.

A two-run inning in the top of the sixth, lifted the Eagles over the Trojans. Troy rallied, putting the tying run on third and the winning run on second, but the Georgia Southern defense made big stops to keep Troy from scoring.

Troy posted six hits on the day, and Katie Webb continued to have great at-bats going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Logan Calhoun, Taylor Corbett, Erica Davis and Carli Kayler all posted one hit each.

Calhoun leadoff in true fashion with a hard-hit single, but the Trojans couldn't get a run across in the first. Taylor Corbett leadoff the second inning with a walk, and Davis advanced her to third with a base hit. With one out, Kayler hit a long fly ball for the sacrifice RBI, giving Troy a 1-0 lead.

Georgia Southern didn't find an answer until the top of the fifth as a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly tied the game, but Troy made its way out of the inning without any further damage, and found an answer of its own in the home half of the inning.

Kayler reached base on an Eagle fielding error and stole second to get in scoring position. Calhoun laid down a sacrificing bunt, moving Kayler to third and Webb came through with an RBI single as Troy regained the 2-1 lead.

A fielder's choice, single and a two-RBI double from Shelby Wilson put the momentum on Georgia Southern's side as the Eagles went up 3-2 on the Trojans.

Troy rallied in bottom of the seventh as Kayler got on base with a single to right field with no outs. Webb reached on a walk and Porter took a hit by pitch to load the bases with just one out. The inning came to a close with a 6-4 put out, as Georgia Southern took the series before Troy's tying run could get across the plate.

Annie Willis made her sixth start, throwing 5.1 innings with five strikeouts before Claire Graves entered as relief adding another strikeout.

QUOTABLE
"We really had some grit and fight out there," head coach Beth Mullins said. "I give Georgia Southern credit because they did too. They were one of the tougher teams we have faced and they beat us in the late innings in the final two games, and that is what made the difference. We have to do a better job when we have runners in scoring position of having more quality at-bats."

NOTEWORTHY

Calhoun continued her team-high hitting streak, now posting a hit in 10 straight games this season, while Porter leads with a 12 game reached-base streak.
Head coach Beth Mullins is just three wins shy of her 100^th career win, all with the Trojans.

UP NEXT
Troy will hit the road for another road swing, facing Southern Miss in a midweek doubleheader on Thursday, March 15, at 3 and 5 p.m. They will then travel to face ULM for another Sun Belt series March 17 and 18. Saturday's doubleheader is set for 1 and 3 p.m., while Sunday's finale will begin at noon.

For more on Troy softball, visit TroyTrojans.com and follow @TroyTrojansSB on Twitter.