STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern shut Texas State out in the first game for a 2-0 win, but the Bobcats answered with 11 hits and nine runs for a 9-4 win in game two.
 
Texas State is now 33-12 on the season and 13-6 in Sun Belt play, while Georgia Southern moves to 22-21 overall and 12-8 against league foes.
 
Game One Recap
 
Georgia Southern took full advantage of leadoff infield singles to pate runs in the first and fifth inning en route to a 2-0 win over Texas State in the first game of the day's doubleheader.
 
Randi Rupp (20-7) was the tough-luck loser as the junior was saddled with the loss despite striking out 12 for her eighth 10-plus strikeout performance of the season. Rupp allowed seven hits (only three left the infield) and both runs.
 
Dixie Raley (13-13) picked up the win in the circle for the Eagles as she totaled her sixth shutout of the season. Raley struck out seven and limited the Bobcats to 1-for-12 with runners on, including 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
 
Georgia Southern used two hits and a sac bunt to push across a run in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead. Mekhia Freeman, led off the frame with a single and came around to score on Morgan Robinson's Texas Leaguer to shallow right for the early advantage.
 
Texas State threatened in the top of the third, moving runners to second and third with one out. However, Georgia Southern's Raley escaped unscathed with an out at the plate on a ball hit to short and a foul pop out.
 
Texas State walked twice in the fifth, but Raley worked around the situation to strikeout the side and keep the Eagles in front 1-0. The Eagles doubled their lead in the home half of the innings as Emily Snider's triple to right center scored Lydia Witkowski from second.
 
The Bobcats left their eighth runner of the game on in the sixth before going down in order in the seventh to suffer their third shutout defeat of the season.
 
Game Two Recap
 
Texas State scored five in the first along with two in the second and seventh to take game two at Georgia Southern 9-3.
 
The Bobcats totaled 11 hits in the contest, marking the seventh double-digit hit game of the season. Christiana McDowell, Ariel Ortiz, Taylor Webb and Haleigh Davis each finished the contest with two hits. Davis led the squad with three RBI, while Jaelyn Young scored two runs.
 
Texas State sent 11 to the plate, totaled five hits and scored five runs in the first inning after not scoring in game one. The first six Bobcats reached base via five hits and a walk to chase Georgia Southern starter Kierra Camp without an out and two earned runs across the plate. Davis greeted reliever Heather Felt with a double down the left-field line to score Young and Corrina Liscano for the fourth and fifth run of the inning.
 
The Bobcats made it 7-0 with two more runs in the second. Texas State loaded the bases after back-to-back hit by pitches and a Taylor Webb single to force a second Georgia Southern pitching change. Davis again greeted the new pitcher with a RBI – this time a fielder's choice that scored pinch runner Alex Cruz. Two batters later Bailee Carter picked up her 12th RBI of the season on a bases-loaded walk for the 7-0 Bobcat edge.
 
After a scoreless third, Georgia Southern scored two runs in the fourth via India Davis' two-RBI double to right center. The Eagles cut the Bobcats' lead to 7-3 in with a run in the sixth as Haleigh Carter scored from second on Lydia Witkowski's double to right field.
 
Texas State answered with two insurance runs in the top of the seventh for a 9-3 lead. Davis came around to score on McDowell's single over the pitcher's head and Kennedy Cline came home on the next pitch as Jaclyn Molenaar ground into an RBI fielder's choice.
 
The Eagles' Emily Snider provided the 9-4 final with her solo homer to right center to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
 
Quincy Charleston earned the win, pitching 4.1 innings, to improve to 7-1 on the season. Charleston surrendered four hits and only a single earned run.
 
Camp (7-7) suffered the loss, giving up five all five runs in the first without record an out.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State and Georgia Southern conclude the three-game series with a single game Sunday (April 23) at 10 a.m. CT.
 
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