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Georgia Southern Wins Softball Championship
Georgia Southern 1, UNCG 0 (11 innings)
Box Score - PDF
Greensboro, N.C. – The Georgia Southern Eagles defeated the UNCG Spartans on a walk-off homer by Kourtny Thomas in the bottom of the 11th inning to win 1-0 in the winner-take-all game on Saturday afternoon.
Pitcher of the Year Sarah Purvis threw 11.0 innings of shutout ball, limiting the Spartans to four hits, walking two and striking out three.
SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player Raeanne Hanks threw 10.2 strong innings for the Spartans, allowing just one run on five hits, walking two and striking out three.
Shelby Morrill led the Eagles at the plate going 2-for-4, while Kourtny Thomas went 1-for-5 with the game’s lone RBI and run scored.
The game was mainly a pitchers’ duel, as expected, starting early. UNCG threatened in the top of the third when Danielle Vega singled down the left field line. Two batters later she moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but Sarah Purvis got a ground out to short to end the threat. Georgia Southern also threatened in the bottom half of the inning when Lexi Allen doubled down the left-field line with two outs, but Raeanne Hanks got some good defense from her shortstop Heather Robb to end the inning and keep the score at 0-0.
After a lead-off single by Georgia Southern in the bottom of the fourth, Hanks again got some great defense from her infield when the Eagles tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt. The UNCG third baseman Danielle Vega was in the right place when the ball was popped-up on the bunt attempt and was able to double-off the runner at first to hold the score at 0-0.
UNCG drew a two-out walk in the top of the fifth, but Sarah Purvis was able to work around it to strand the runner. In the bottom half, Kaitlyn Johnson drew a lead-off walk then advanced to second on a passed ball. AJ Hamilton grounded out to third for the first out of the inning, but Johnson was able to advance to third as the throw skipped off the third baseman’s glove. Then, Gabrielle Story reached on a fielder’s choice and Johnson was tagged out on a close play at the plate to keep the score at 0-0.
After a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, Georgia Southern’s Kaitlyn Johnson sent a two-out single up the middle but was stranded at first to send the game to extra innings tied at 0-0.
In the top of the eighth, Dominique Madruga led-off with an infield single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Danielle Vega. Georgia Southern shortstop Kourtny Thomas then made a great play to rob pinch-hitter Toni MacReynolds of a hit for the second out. Pinch-hitter Nicole Thomas drew a two-out walk but Sarah Purvis got a strikeout to end the threat and keep the score tied at 0.
Then in the bottom half, Hanks once again got some help from her defense as Aisha Figueroa made a game-saving grab as the ball was tailing away from her to rob Alexa Lewis of extra bases and keep the score tied at 0-0.
After a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, Georgia Southern’s Shelby Morrill reached on a one-out UNCG error, but Hanks against pitched out of the jam to keep the score tied at 0.
Tatiana Alcala led-off the top of the 10th with a bloop single into left-center, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Madruga. Purvis also continued her great work to pitch out of the jam, getting a fly out and a strikeout to end the top half. Hanks got another easy inning to end the bottom half tied at 0.
Purvis worked another 1-2-3 inning in the top half. Then in the bottom of the 11th, Kourtny Thomas hammered a two-out homer over the left-field fence to give the Eagles the 1-0 walk-off victory.
The Eagles receive the Southern Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is scheduled for Sunday, May 12 at 10:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
2013 SoCon All-Tournament Team
Shelby Scott, Samford
Ashton Jarrett, College of Charleston
Kayla Shaffer, Samford
Hope Klicker, College of Charleston
Shelby Morrill, Georgia Southern
Brooke Red, Georgia Southern
Kourtny Thomas, Georgia Southern
Lindsay Thomas, UNCG
Sarah Purvis, Georgia Southern
Raeanne Hanks, UNCG
Most Outstanding Player
Raeanne Hanks, UNCG