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BASEBALL: Dawgs win two vs. Princeton
The University of Georgia baseball team claimed the first two games of a four-game bout against the Princeton Tigers, 12-5 and 9-0, on Saturday at Foley Field.
Game one of the series began Friday night before being suspended to Saturday due to a rain delay with the Bulldogs holding a 7-2 advantage. After winning the first contest, Georgia carried a no-hitter to the eighth inning before finishing with a shutout on three hits.
“I thought we played well all around today,” Georgia’s Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin said. “We had some big hits, some really good at bats all the way through the lineup, played really good defense…we did make an error there late, but bottom-line we played great defense and pitched a great game, and came up with some big hits.”
Sunday’s action will feature a doubleheader and begin at 11 a.m. The first game will be a seven-inning contest. If this game goes extra innings, then the final game of the series will be seven innings. If not, the final game of the series will be a nine-inning contest.
Game One
Georgia’s (4-1) three home runs during Friday’s action gave the Bulldogs a 7-2 lead heading into Saturday where it extended its lead following a stellar start from junior Jaden Woods.
Woods’ (1-0) career night on Friday featured 11 strikeouts over 4.2 inning. Senior Pace Mercer resumed action on the mound and threw 1.1 innings allowing one run off one hit and one strikeout. Princeton’s (0-2) Jackson Emus (0-1) was credited the loss after pitched 4.0 innings and allowed five runs on six hits.
Princeton grabbed the first run of Saturday’s play in the seventh with a solo home run to center field as the Tigers trailed 7-4 leading into the bottom of the frame.
Five walks for five runs in the seventh boosted Georgia’s lead. Graduate Mason LaPlante reached on a fielding error by third base and was advanced to second by a sacrifice bunt from graduate Ben Anderson. A double from graduate Connor Tate put two runners on. Five walks scored LaPlante, Tate, junior Parks Harber and redshirt freshman Charlie Condon. A sacrifice fly out from junior Sebastian Murillo scored sophomore Cole Wagner to give the Bulldogs a 12-3 advantage. Princeton scored two home runs in the top of the ninth, again on solo home runs, for the final.
Game Two
The Bulldogs blanked the Tigers in the second game of the day which featured a dominating performance by junior Liam Sullivan, providing seven hitless frames.
Sullivan (1-0) tied his career high with 11 strikeouts and surrendered just two walks in a combined three-hit shutout by the Bulldogs. Princeton’s Tom Chmielewski (0-1) took the loss after tossing 4.0 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks.
The Bulldogs (4-1) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Condon was walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Graduate Will David sent a double to right center field to score Condon. Murillo followed up with a double to center field that split the gap as David reached home.
Tate and Harber were walked as Condon singled to short to load the bases for Wagner in the bottom of the third. Wagner reached first on a fielder’s choice to score Tate as Georgia took a 3-0 advantage. Georgia added a fourth run to its lead in the fourth. A single from Tate to left field scored Collins. The Tigers remained scoreless heading into the fifth. With Tate on second after a leadoff singling and advancing to second on an error, Harber launched a two-run home run to center field. With two runners on, Collins was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Anderson. The graduate knocked a two-run single to right center to score David and Condon as the Bulldogs extended their lead to eight, 8-0. A final run from Georgia closed the scoring for game two. A single from junior Garrett Spikes, who advanced to second on a wild pitch, got the Bulldogs on base. With bases loaded, freshman Josh Tate reached on a fielder’s choice as Spikes crossed home plate, 9-0.
SOFTBALL: Georgia goes three for Saturday
The 17th-ranked Georgia softball team completed three shutouts Saturday afternoon at Jack Turner Stadium.
Georgia improves to 11-4 on the season. Georgia began the day resuming its suspended game from Friday against California Baptist, recording the 1-0 shutout. The Bulldogs and Lancers turned around and faced off again with Georgia run ruling CBU 9-0 in six innings. The fourth shutout of the weekend came against Hofstra, defeating the Pride 5-0.
No. 17 Georgia 1, California Baptist 0 (resumed from Friday)
Junior Madison Kerpics (3-2) pitched the complete-game shutout in the circle, allowing just four hits and striking out three Lancers.
At the plate, five different hitters were responsible for Georgia’s five hits. Jaiden Fields drove in the lone run of the game for Georgia.
Sydney Kuma drew a one-out walk scored on a double to the wall in left off the bat of Fields to put Georgia ahead 1-0 in the second inning.
Georgia led the Lancers of California Baptist 1-0 with one out in the top of the fifth inning before the game was suspended due to weather Friday evening.
The game was resumed Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in the top of the fifth with one out.
The 1-0 lead held the remainder of the game en route to Georgia’s second shutout win of the weekend.
No. 17 Georgia 9, California 0 (6 inn.)
Senior Sara Mosley belted two home runs and drove in five runs in Saturday’s regularly scheduled game against CBU (6-8). Mosley was one of six Bulldogs to record a two-hit game. One of which, freshman Marisa Miller had two RBI in the game.
Graduate Shelby Walters (5-1) worked four scoreless innings in her start, allowing just two hits and fanning two batters. Freshman Destin Howard worked two innings out of the pen, allowing no runs, no hits, and striking out one.
A two-run home run from Mosley followed by a solo shot from Jayda Kearney gave the Bulldogs a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning. Later in the frame, an RBI single from Miller drove in Kuma to complete a four-run first inning, 4-0.
RBI singles from Kuma and Miller widened Georgia’s lead to 6-0 in the home half of the third inning.
A three-run home run from Mosely, her second homer of the game, ended the contest in the sixth inning, wrapping a 9-0 run rule of the Lancers.
No. 17 Georgia 5, Hofstra 0
Kerpics (4-2) worked five scoreless frames in her start and tied a career-high 11 strikeouts, allowing just two hits in her outing. Destin Howard pitched the final two innings of hitless, scoreless softball against Hofstra (0-8).
The offense scattered five hits from five different batters. Likewise, four different batters accounted for driving in an RBI apiece in the contest.
With Dallis Goodnight on second in the home half of the opening frame, Mosley plugged the right center gap to drive in Goodnight and go ahead 1-0. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases. A lineout to left was deep enough for Mosely to tag up and score, widening the early lead to 2-0.
Kearney led off the bottom of the third with a triple off the wall in right center. She immediately tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Lyndi Rae Davis to bring the advantage to 3-0.
The Dogs added two more in the fourth, one on a sac fly off the bat of Kearney, the other when Sydney Chambley swiped home on a delayed steal, widening the lead to 5-0 for Georgia.
Howard made her second appearance in the circle of the day, working the final two scoreless innings en route to Georgia’s fourth shutout of the tournament.
Georgia will host Lipscomb in the final game of the Georgia Classic on Sunday. First pitch between the Bulldogs and Bisons is set for 1 p.m. at Jack Turner Stadium.
WBB: Georgia (20-9, 9-6 SEC) vs. No. 1 South Carolina (28-0, 15-0 SEC) tips at noon
Sunday, Feb. 26 | noon ET | Colonial Life Arena | Columbia, S.C.
TV: ESPN2 (Courtney Lyle and Christy Thomaskutty)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler)
Storylines
» Georgia travels to Columbia to face No. 1-ranked and undefeated South Carolina this Sunday. Tipoff for the regular season finale is set for noon ET on ESPN2.
» The Lady Bulldogs have won five-straight and seven of their last eight games this season. This is Georgia’s best SEC win streak in six years (since the 2017-18 campaign when the team won seven consecutive conference contests).
» Georgia is currently in seventh place in the SEC standings, but can still finish as high as fifth. Georgia was picked ninth in the SEC preseason poll.
» Georgia closed out its home slate on Thursday with a win against Auburn. This year’s team went 13-3 inside Stegeman Coliseum — the program’s best home record in five seasons. On Sunday, Georgia goes for its third-straight conference road win.
» This is the second meeting this season between Georgia and South Carolina. The Lady Bulldogs led for the majority of the time (23 minutes), before the Gamecocks outscored the Lady Bulldogs 21-11 in the fourth quarter for the 68-51 win on Jan. 2.
» Coach ABE’s team leads the SEC in steals, averaging 10.6 per game. The Lady Bulldogs have recorded 308 steals — the most for the program since 2012-13 and 40 more than the next closest SEC team (Kentucky with 268).
» A nation-best eight Georgia players have totaled 20 more steals. De’Mauri Flournoy, with 19, needs just one more to give the Lady Bulldogs nine players with 20-plus takeaways.
» Georgia leads the SEC, with opponents committing 20 or more turnovers 17 times this year. The Lady Bulldogs own a 15-2 record in those contests.
» Georgia paces the conference in turnovers forced (20.6) and turnover margin (+4.07).
» Sunday’s matchup features two of the top scoring defenses in the SEC. During league games only, South Carolina holds opponents to a conference-best 52.9 ppg, while Georgia ranks third at 60 ppg.
» Coach ABE’s teams boast a remarkable 22-3 record in the month of February over the last three seasons (two at UCF and this year at Georgia). Her squads have won 16 conference titles in her 17 seasons as head coach.
» Georgia’s nine losses have come by an average of just eight points per game. Six of the nine defeats have come by single digits. The only double-dight loss was to No. 1 South Carolina earlier this year.
» Georgia’s only loss in the month of February came in an 82-77 overtime thriller at LSU. The Lady Bulldogs led for over 25 minutes in that contest, including a nine-point advantage late in the fourth quarter.
» The Lady Bulldogs are looking for their first win over a No. 1 ranked team since defeating Tennessee in the semifinals of the 2004 SEC Tournament, 68-66. Georgia has never beaten a top-ranked opponent on the road.
» Georgia owns a 33-23 lead in the all-time series against South Carolina, but has lost 16-straight to the Gamecocks.
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