STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern softball team (1-1) opened the 2024 season in the Bash in the Boro splitting a pair of games on Friday at Beautiful Eagle Field. 

GAME ONE - UMass 1, Georgia Southern 0

The Eagles opened the season with back-to-back singles by Emma Davis and Faith Barth but two fly outs and a strikeout ending the threat. The Minutewomen loaded the bases in the second but a ground out to second base ended the inning to remain scoreless. 

Anslie Pettit would go on to throw five scoreless innings before UMass would go on to score the lone run of the game in the top of the sixth when Julianne Bolton blasted a solo shot to left field to put the Minutewomen in front for good. 

Julianne Bolton (1-0) earned the victory in the circle tossing seven complete innings surrendering ten hits and striking out five. 

Freshman Anslie Pettit (0-1) tossed a complete game in her collegiate debut surrendering one run on six hits while striking out seven. 

Davis and Barth led the offense with a multi-hit outing going 3-for-4 and 2-for-4, respectively. 

GAME TWO - Georgia Southern 8, Merrimack College 5

Georgia Southern struck first in the bottom of the first when Katie Perkins recorded an RBI-groundout to score Emma Davis who reached on a lead off walk. The Eagles would double its lead in the second as Jess Mazur launched a solo home run to left field. 

The Warriors cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth but the Eagles responded in the bottom of the frame. Delanie Thames and Kyla Maxwell led off the inning with back-to-back singles to put runners on for the top of the order. A throwing error allowed Thames to score before Barth scored Maxwell on a sac-fly to go up, 4-1. 

Merrimack tied the game in the fifth when Madison Cerpa homered to left center field before taking its first lead of the game in the sixth when Madeline Arvai singled up the middle to make it, 6-5. 

The Eagles would respond in the bottom of the sixth plating four runs on five hits. Barth and Janai Conklin hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before Gracie Bellard drew a walk to load the bases. Katie Perkins drove in the game-tying run on a base hit before Courtney Ball plated the go ahead run on a single to left field, to make it 7-5. Delanie Thames would extend the lead with her second hit of the game to push the final run across. 

Bailey Holland (1-0) recorded the win in relief tossing 1.2 innings. 

Janai Conklin and Katie Perkins both went 2-for-4 and Delanie Thames went 2-for-3 to turn in multi-hit performances to lead the offenses

Next Up
The Eagles are back for a pair of games in the Bash in the Boro on Saturday at Beautiful Eagle Field facing UMass at 12:30 p.m. and Merrimack at 3 p.m. The games are set to be broadcasted on ESPN+.