The No. 12/10 Georgia softball team picked up a pair of wins against Illinois and Coppin State to improve to 5-0 on the season on Saturday February 7 in the Red and Black Showcase at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Ga. Georgia defeated Illinois 11-3 in six innings before handing Coppin State a 11-0 loss in five innings. The wins were the third and fourth run-rule victories for the Bulldogs this weekend.

[break] [break] Georgia 11, Illinois 3

The Bulldogs got its third run-rule victory of the weekend when it defeated Illinois 11-3 in six innings. Alex Hugo went 3-for-4, with a home run, two triples, three runs scored and six RBI. Maeve McGuire delivered the walk-off hit when she hit a pinch hit double that scored Hugo.
[break] [break] Chelsea Wilkinson got the win for Georgia to improve to 3-0 on the year. She allowed three runs on three hits in six innings of work. She also struck out eight batters and did not allow a walk. Shelese Arnold suffered the loss to fall to 0-3 on the year. She allowed six runs, five of which were earned, on six hits and three walks in 4.2 innings of work. Breanna Wonderly also saw action, allowing five runs on three hits in one inning in the circle.
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[break] Georgia didn’t waste any time in the first game of the day, as it jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. A single by Sydni Emanuel and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Paige Wilson put two runners on for Alex Hugo.  With one away, Hugo gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with one swing of the bat as she lifted a pitch over the right field wall for a home run.
[break] [break] Illinois answered with three runs in the top of the third inning that made it a 3-3 game. A pair of errors put a runner at third base for Allie Bauch, who doubled to left field and scored Leigh Farina. A double by Alyssa Gunter allowed Bauch to score and cut the lead to 3-2. The Illini tied it up at 3-3 on a fielding error.
[break] [break] After a scoreless fourth inning, Georgia plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. An infield single by Cortni Emanuel and walk by Wilson put two on for Hugo. After a fielding change by Illinois, Hugo tripled off the wall in right field, scoring both C. Emanuel and Wilson and putting Georgia up 5-3. A fielding error by the Illinois second baseman allowed Kaylee Puailoa to reach, move to second and allow Hugo to cross the plate and make it a 6-3 game. After a pitching change, the final out was recorded to end the inning.
[break] [break] Georgia broke it open in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring five runs on three hits. Niaja Griffin kicked the inning off when she reached on an error. With a runner on, Tina Iosefa hit into a fielder’s choice, but Griffin slid safely into second. A double steal put runners at second and third for C. Emanuel, who hit into a fielder’s choice. During the play, the fielder threw home, but the throw was off the mark, allowing Samantha LaZear and Griffin to score and give the Bulldogs an 8-3 advantage. Wilson followed with an RBI infield single that made it 9-3 game. With a runner at first, Hugo stepped up to the plate and delivered a triple, her second of the day, down the left field line that plated the 10th run of the game for Georgia. Needing just one run to call the game, McGuire stepped up to the plate and hit a pinch hit double, allowing Hugo to trot home and score the winning run that brought the score to 11-3.
[break] [break] Georgia 11, Coppin State 

The Bulldogs earned their second run-rule victory of the day, and fourth of the season when it handed Coppin State an 11-0 loss. Anna Swafford led the offensive charge as she went 3-for-3, with a single, a double, an inside-the-park home run and three RBI.
[break] [break] Brittany Gray and Savannah McHellon combined for a one-hit shutout. Gray pitched the first two innings allowing no hits and one walk, while striking out five. McHellon made her college-pitching debut, as she tossed the final three innings giving her the win. She allowed just one hit and two walks, while striking out four. Coppin State’s Oashaja Dobie suffered the loss to fall to 0-3 on the year. She allowed eleven runs, all earned, on eleven hits and four walks in four innings of work.
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[break] Georgia jumped out to a very quick and strong start as they went up 7-0 in the first inning. Wilson started the scoring spree with a single up the middle that plated C. Emanuel. Next, Hugo crushed a two-run home run over the newly installed centerfield bleachers, it was her second homer of the day and third of the season. Later in the inning LaZear scored a run on a wild pitch, which was followed by an Tina Iosefa double that scored Swafford. C. Emanuel then added the final two runs of the inning with a double down the left field line.
[break] [break] In the second, Georgia added two more on an inside-the-park home run by Swafford. She slapped a line drive just out of the reach of a diving Alanna Williams, the Coppin State centerfielder, as the ball rolled to the fence Swafford hustled around the bases for her second career inside-the-park homer, her first was at No. 16/18 Missouri last year.
[break] [break] The Bulldogs scored their final two runs of the game in the fourth. Swafford drove in the first run with an RBI double to right field and then the second run of the inning was scored on an Iosefa groundout to third.
[break] [break] Georgia returns to action tomorrow, Feb. 8, at 2 p.m., when it takes on Winthrop in the final game of the Eighth Annual Red and Black Showcase.