AMERICUS, Ga. - The Lander Softball Team picked up a pair of wins in completely different styles on Saturday afternoon as they took down the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes, 14-5, in game one of a doubleheader before needing ten innings to pick up a low scoring 4-2 win in game two.
The doubleheader sweep was Lander's sixth in conference play and improved the Bearcats' record to 30-11 overall and 14-7 in league play. The Blue and Gold currently sit in second place in the PBC standings. Georgia Southwestern dropped to 19-26 overall and 6-15 in league play.
Raquel Camuglia drove home seven in game one, aided by a grand slam - Lander's third of the series while Naya Jones drove home two in game two.
Game 1: Lander 14, Georgia Southwestern 5
Despite the lopsided final scoreline, the game was a back-and-forth affair early on that saw Lander take an early 3-0 lead on a Camuglia three-run home run in the first inning and then add another in the second on a Hurricane error.
Georgia Southwestern, however, slowly started to chip away before eventually taking a 5-4 lead in the fifth with a three-run homer of their own.
The sixth inning saw Lander flip the game on its head with an eight-spot that started with a Saje Jones RBI single tied the game and an RBI groundout gave Lander the lead back at 6-5. The Bearcats weren't done as Camuglia came up with the bases loaded and drove Lander's third grand slam of the series beyond the center field fence to make it 10-5. Abbie Behe came up three batters later and deposited a two-run shot of her own to make it a seven-run lead at 12-5 and cap the scoring onslaught.
Emily Allen then added a two-run shot of her own in the seventh to add the icing on the cake and secure the game one win.
Game 2: Lander 4, Georgia Southwestern 2 (F/10)
For the first time in the series, the Hurricanes struck first as they took advantage of a Lander error in the third inning to plate two runs. The lead was short-lived as Naya Jones tied the game in the Bearcats' next at-bat with a two-run double to make it 2-all.
Both teams were held off the board all the way until the tenth when a sacrifice fly from Logan Coward and an RBI infield single from Behe gave Lander a 4-2 lead. Kamryn Akins then sent the Hurricanes down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to finish off the ten-inning complete game and earn her second win of the season.
Up Next:
Lander wraps the 2024 regular season this coming week as they travel to Emmanuel on Tuesday, April 16th for a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM. The regular season concludes over the weekend as the Bearcats welcome the defending National Champion and newly crowned PBC Regular Season Champion North Georgia Nighthawks to Greenwood. The series begins on Saturday, April 20th with a doubleheader set to begin at noon before wrapping on Sunday, April 21st with a single game set to begin also at noon.
