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SB: Dawgs move to 5-0 with Sunday win over Purdue

The sixth-ranked Georgia softball team remained perfect on opening weekend, defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Jack Turner Stadium.

The Bulldogs climb to 5-0 on the young season.

Sydney Chambley continued her hot start to the season, knocking her third home run of the weekend, a grand slam, in the fifth to break the scoreless tie. Chambley finished the Red & Black Showcase hitting .500 (6-for-12) with three home runs, two doubles, and drove in 10. She slugged 1.417 with a .625 on-base clip.

Sydney Kuma added two hits of her own to finish opening weekend with a .750 average (9-for-12).

Sophomore Destin Howard worked two scoreless innings in her start, allowing just two hits and struck out one. Madison Kerpics (2-0) earned the win in relief, working three scoreless innings, giving up one hit, and striking out two. Lilli Backes pitched the final two innings, allowing one run.

A one-out Jayda Kearney single, a walk to Lyndi Rae Davis, and a hit batsman loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth. Chambley blasted a grand slam to right center to put Georgia on the board, 4-0. It was the third grand slam of her career.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases again in the sixth inning with two out. Sarah Gordon looked at ball four to drive in Georgia’s fifth run of the game, 5-0.

Purdue (3-2) didn’t go quietly in the seventh inning, putting the first two runners aboard. Kiara Dillon singled to right center to drive in the Boilermakers first run, breaking up the shutout. Ellie Armistead made a fantastic catch in the hole at short and flipped to Sara Mosley at third to complete the double play and end the game, 5-1.

The Bulldogs now set their sights on the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational Presented by EvoShield next weekend in Clearwater, Florida. Georgia begins play Thursday, Feb. 15 against Wisconsin. First pitch against the Badgers is set for 1 p.m., ET, live on SEC Network.

Head Coach Tony Baldwin

On today’s game…

“I really thought the pitching and defense were the star of the weekend, honestly. We got some timely hits. We got some big hits. Fortunately, we were able to get the ball out of the ballpark some. That was most of our offense, really. We didn’t string together a lot of hits, but at the end of the day, when you don’t give up much on the defensive side then timely hitting is kind of the key. Big hit by Sydney Chambley today. I thought Destin [Howard] really came out, commanded the ball and gave us a great start. Madison [Kerpics] held us in the middle there, and then Lilli [Backes] made some big pitches at the end. Probably the player of the game was Ellie Armistead with the two sensational defensive plays. All in all, a great team weekend. We’re 5-0 and can’t ask for anything more.”

On the pitching this weekend…

“The first inning for the backend of the bullpen there, for Destin [Howard], Rachel [Gibson], and Riley [Orcutt] were all outstanding. So excited to see them, all the work they’ve put in, the growth that they’ve had over the past six, eight months, come out in game play was pretty exciting. I feel really good about our top three, and if we keep getting those kind of outings from the other three, the backend, we’re going to be alright.”

Video Highlights

Box Score

WTennis: Georgia follows Florida win with victory over TAMU at the ITA Indoor Championships

The No. 4 ranked Georgia women’s team closed out its third day of action at the ITA Indoor Championships with a 4-2 win over No. 9 Texas A&M in its second consolation match at the Seattle Tennis Center on Sunday.

The Bulldogs (4-3) notched back-to-back wins against top-10 opponents after defeating No. 8 Florida, 4-1, on Saturday. The win closes out the last match for Georgia in Seattle, as it went 2-1 against top-15 opponents.

Opening the day with doubles action, the Bulldogs were dominant early and capitalized down the stretch to secure the first point for Georgia.

On court two, the No. 32 duo of Mai Nirundorn and Guillermina Grant proved to be the stronger pair as they cruised past Nicole Khirin and Lucciana Perez (Texas A&M) 6-1. The tandem of Alex Vecic and Mell Reasco picked up an early lead and never looked back as they capped off a convincing 6-3 win over Daria Smetannikov and Jeanette Mireles (Texas A&M) on court three.

Heading into singles play, Georgia carried over momentum as the Bulldogs picked up first set wins on three of six courts while the back-half of the order made the difference in the match.

Grant was a star throughout the weekend as she tallied her third singles win in as many days, taking down Smetannikov (Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-3 on court five. After an Aggie win on court three, Nirundorn completed a late comeback from two games down in the first set to force a tiebreaker and win to lead by one set to none. With the second set mirroring the first, Nirundorn held her own as she secured a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Mireles (Texas A&M) on court six.

Following a second singles win for Texas A&M on court two, the Bulldogs lead 3-2 with tight scores remaining on courts one and four. No. 38 Dasha Vidmanova went toe-to-toe with the ITA singles No. 1 in Mary Stoiana, as both girls battled their way into a 6-3, 4-6, 6-6 stalemate before No. 114 Lopata completed her own comeback 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Perez (Texas A&M) to clinch the match for Georgia.

The Bulldogs will return to Athens and prepare for a five-match road trip which will see them open up against in-state rivals No. 23 Georgia Tech on Sunday, Feb. 18 at noon ET in Atlanta.

ITA DI Women’s Indoor Championships

Date: Friday, Feb. 9 to Monday, Feb. 12

Time: All day

Location: Seattle, Wash.

Venue: Seattle Tennis Center

Live Video: https://gado.gs/bch

Singles Results

No. 38 Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) vs No. 1 Mary Stoiana (TAMU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-6 (3-3) UF

No. 32 Nicole Khirin (TAMU) def. No. 48 Alexandra Vecic (UGA), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

No. 24 Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. No. 66 Mell Reasco (UGA), 6-3, 6-2

No. 114 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) def. Lucciana Perez (TAMU), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Guillermina Grant (UGA) def. Daria Smetannikov (TAMU), 6-3, 6-3

No. 111 Mai Nirundorn (UGA) def. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU), 7-6(2), 6-4

Doubles Results

No. 3 Mia Kupres/Mary Stoiana (TAMU) vs. No. 31 Aysegul Mert/Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) 4-4, UF

No. 32 Guillermina Grant/Mai Nirundorn (UGA) def. Lucciana Perez/Nicole Khirin (TAMU), 6-1

Alexandra Vecic/Mell Reasco (UGA) def. Jeanette Mireles/Daria Smetannikov (TAMU), 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles: (Order of Finish: 2, 3) Singles: (Order of Finish: 5, 3, 6, 2, 4)

MGolf: Ben van Wyk in 5th, Dawgs 4th after day one of the Puerto Rico Classic

The Georgia men’s golf team ended day one of the Puerto Rico Classic in fourth place, shooting 13-under, 275 collectively at the Grand Reserve Golf Club on Sunday afternoon.

Graduate student Ben van Wyk paced the Bulldogs, carding a five-under 67 while shooting par or better on all 18 holes during the first round. He stands tied for fifth on the individual leaderboards. 

As a team, Georgia totaled 23 birdies on the day, the second-most of anyone in the field. The Bulldogs stand four shots behind the solo leader, No. 30 North Florida, three shots behind second-place No. 6 Tennessee and one shot behind Iowa in third.

“I thought we got off to a solid start today,” head coach Chris Haack said. “Having everybody shoot under par is a great sign. If we can keep everybody in the hunt, that will bode well for us. All in all, it was a good opening day with everyone looking like they were in it the whole round.”

Beck Burnette and Buck Brumlow joined van Wyk in the top 20, as both shot three-under 69 to begin the tournament tied for 17th. Both Burnette, a graduate student, and Brumlow, a junior, shot five birdies during the first round, which is tied for the 12^th-most of all players in the field. Burnette’s 69 marked the third time he has shot under 70 as a Bulldog.

Connor Creasy and Caleb Manuel both finished one shot behind Burnette and Burmlow, carding two-under 70 performances. Creasy shot par or better on all but one hole on Sunday while Manuel tied Burnette and Brumlow with five birdies.

Camden Smith is competing as an individual and ended the first day one-under 71. The freshman earned his second collegiate eagle on hole five during round one. He is just one of six golfers to earn an eagle on day one.

The Bulldogs will continue with round two of the Puerto Rico Classic on Monday, Feb. 12 with a shotgun start slated for 7:30 a.m. ET. 

Puerto Rico Classic

Grand Reserve Golf Club

Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Par 72, 7,506 Yards

Day One Results

Team Leaderboard

1.    No. 30 North Florida          271 (-17)

2.    No. 6 Tennessee               272 (-16)

3.    Iowa                          274 (-14)

4.    No. 43 Georgia                275 (-13)

5.    No. 15 Oklahoma               276 (-12)

6.    No. 9 ETSU                    279 (-9)

t-7.  No. 25 Ohio St.               280 (-8)

t-7.  No. 29 Purdue                 280 (-8)

t-9.  Wisconsin                     281 (-7)

t-9.  Minnesota                     281 (-7)

11.   No. 13 Virginia               282 (-6)

12.   Charleston                    284 (-4)

13.   No. 4 Ole Miss                285 (-3)

14.   South Carolina                286 (-2)

15.   Marquette                     287 (-1)

Individual Leaderboard

1.    Noah Kent, Iowa               63 (-9)

t-2.  Ben Warian, Minnesota         66 (-6)

t-2.  Nick Gabrelcik, North Florida 66 (-6)

t-2.  Ben Lorenz, Oklahoma          66 (-6)

t-5.  Ben van Wyk, Georgia          67 (-5)

t-5.  Drew Goodman, Oklahoma        67 (-5)

t-5.  Robbie Higgins, North Florida 67 (-5)

t-5.  Max Lyons, Marquette          67 (-5)

t-5.  Bryce Lewis, Tennessee        67 (-5)

t-5.  Nels Surtani, Purdue          67 (-5)

t-5.  Laurent Desmarchais, Tennessee67 (-5)

Georgia Scores

t-5.    Ben van Wyk                 67 (-5)

t-17.   Buck Brumlow                69 (-3)

t-17.   Beck Burnette               69 (-3)

t-35.   Connor Creasy               70 (-2)

t-35.   Caleb Manuel                70 (-2)

t-46.   Camden Smith*               71 (-1)

*Competing as individual

WBB: Georgia falls to Vanderbilt, 61-55

 A career-high in scoring by De’Mauri Flournoy was not enough for the University of Georgia women’s basketball team as it fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores, 61-55,  Sunday afternoon before 3,187 spectators in Stegeman Coliseum.

A layup by Fatima Diakhate knotted the score at 13 with under two minutes remaining in the first quarter as Georgia (11-13, 2-9 SEC) scored eight of its 13 points from the paint to start the game.

Jordan Cole quieted a nine-point Vanderbilt (18-7, 5-6 SEC) run in the second quarter with a layup through traffic. Javyn Nicholson followed  with a bucket of her own to cut the Commodores’ lead to two, 23-21. Vanderbilt carried a 26-21 lead into the second half.

A pair of triples on back-to-back possessions put Georgia within one, 30-29 to start the third period. The Commodores used an 8-1 run to build a 38-30 lead. The Lady Bulldogs chipped away, using five points from Nicholson to trail by six, 40-34, heading into the final frame.

Six Georgia points cut Vanderbilt’s lead to eight. The Lady Bulldogs continued to spread their scoring across the floor as Flournoy tallied 11 of Georgia’s 21 fourth quarter points.  

Storylines from Today’s Game

• Georgia honored members of its 1999 NCAA Final Four team during halftime. The 1999 team knocked off Liberty, SMU, Clemson and Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Duke in the Final Four.

Career Highs/Player Superlatives

• De’Mauri Flournoy led the offensive effort with a career-high 19 points.
• Flournoy has scored in double figures in seven-straight games.
• Javyn Nicholson chipped in 15 points and grabbed 11 boards.
• Nicholson ranks second in the SEC in double-doubles with 13 and has scored in double figures in 23 of 24 games this season.

What’s Next

• Georgia will travel to Columbia, S.C. to face the Gamecocks on Sunday, February 18. The game will be live on ABC at 1 p.m.

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