Georgia Southern received a pair of great pitching performances from Brianna Streetmon and Allie Miles Saturday afternoon on the softball diamond.
    Both pitched complete games as the Lady Eagles (24-23, 12-5 Southern Conference) swept a doubleheader from Furman (13-23, 6-8) by scores of 9-1 and 1-0, respectively.
    “Those were two great outings today,” said GSU coach Maggie Johnson of her pitching staff. “We have four girls that we’re confident throwing out there. Bri and Allie are two of them and they showed why today. It takes a lot of pressure off everyone else on the team when you get pitching like that.”
    The Eagles put an early end to the first game of the day, scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth inning to enact the eight-run mercy rule. The second game was much tougher as Miles and Furman’s Kayla Suskauer dueled through the first seven innings without surrendering a run before Kelly Burnett’s single scored Megan Smith in the first extra inning.
    Georgia Southern had a few opportunities to break through early, but Furman’s defense held strong. Two Eagles were thrown out on the basepaths in the second inning, including Paladin shortstop Jesse Homesly nailing Breigh Findlay at the plate.
    The Eagles finally broke through in the eighth as Smith drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a single by Mackenzie Williams. Burnett then lined the first pitch she saw from Suskauer into left center to clinch the victory.
    “That was the first walk-off hit of my career,” said Burnett. “It felt pretty good. I was just looking for something good to hit and got it right away. I knew it was a hit and was just hoping that Megan would be able to score.”
    Miles had to go the extra three outs, but earned the win nonetheless to improve on her already impressive freshman campaign.
    Miles allowed just two hits and struck out ten Furman batters on the day, including back-to-back strikeouts with runners on second and third in the second inning – the Paladins’ only real scoring threat of the game.
    “I felt really good out there today,” said Miles. “I was throwing everything well and knew I had good defense behind me. Even when we went to extra innings, I was confident that the offense would come around. This team always seems to find those hits when we need them.”
    There wasn’t nearly as much drama in the first game as Streetmon retired the side to open the game before receiving three runs of support in the bottom of the first.
    Marie Fogle led off with a double to left and came in to score on a single by Smith. Williams singled behind Smith and both crossed the plate on Kayla Brooks’ two-run single to right.
    The Eagles extended their lead to 4-0 in the third inning on Williams’ eighth home run of the season and – after Furman scored its only run of the day on a throwing error in the top of the fourth – added a run each in the fourth and fifth innings.
    Georgia Southern brought Game 1 to an early end in the sixth inning when it rallied off of Hannah Pace, who was brought in to relieve Suskauer.
    Tabby Douberly drilled a one-out single to center and was pinch-run for by Jorie Walker, who advanced to second on a walk by Fogle. Hannah Ennis then launched a double off the fence in left center and advanced to third on the throw home as both Walker and Fogle scored. Smith clinched the win two pitches later when she lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Ennis and put the mercy rule in play.
    The pair of GSU wins, coupled with Chattanooga dropping both ends of a doubleheader Saturday at the College of Charleston, now pulls the Eagles within a game of first place in Southern Conference play.
    Georgia Southern hosts UNC Greensboro next weekend before traveling to Chattanooga for a three-game series May 7-8 that will likely decide the SoCon regular season champion.
    “It’s good to get these wins,” said Johnson. “Gaining a few games in the standings is good, but we aren’t too worried about what other teams are doing. If we just keep playing Eagle softball, we can keep on winning.”

    Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.