In front of a crowd of 1,846, #12 Georgia softball earned a 4-3 victory over Texas A&M Saturday, clinching the series victory over the Aggies at Jack Turner Softball Stadium.
“It’s a dog fight in the SEC, it doesn’t matter who you play, anybody can knock you off any day,” head coach Lu Harris-Champer said. “Texas A&M is a very good team; they are very talented. I am really proud of the girls for coming out and getting the job done.
“[The atmosphere] was amazing with the pink game and what it means to everybody. It means a lot to the team to come out here and represent this cause and the crowd was amazing, the girls felt their presence. I know that they wanted to get out here and do well for them.”
Sophomore Lauren Mathis (7-3) pitched a strong game in the circle to lead Georgia (30-10, 5-6) to victory. Mathis allowed only three earned runs on four hits in six innings of work. Junior Mary Wilson Avant relieved Mathis in the seventh inning en route to her second save of the season.
At the plate, Georgia scattered six hits, recorded by six different Bulldogs. Justice Milz provided the big hit of the day, a two-RBI double in the third inning to put the Bulldogs in front of the Aggies (24-15, 2-9).
Harris-Champer added, “we got a little bit of everything today. I am most proud of the pitching and defense. We took a little punch early but came back and Lauren threw a lot of good pitches and got a lot of swings and pop ups. I thought that our defense was outstanding for her today. And then at the end of the day when Mary came in she really pitched like an upper class-man. It was fun to see her poise on the mound and her calm demeanor, I thought she did a great job. It was fun to see Ciara, Jordan, and especially Justice who was working great had a two RBI single. What more can you ask for, you just have to manufacture runs at the end of the day.”
Texas A&M jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run by Baylee Klingler to left field in the opening frame.
The Bulldog offense broke through in the bottom of the third inning with four runs. A leadoff walk to Alyssa DiCarlo followed by an error by the right fielder put two in scoring position. Another Aggie error, this time by the second baseman, allowed DiCarlo to score and tie the game. Milz plugged the left center gap to plate two runs and give the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage. Milz came around to score on a single down the left field line by Jordan Doggett, 4-1 Georgia.
Mathis continued her solid outing with another scoreless inning, her fourth of the afternoon, to keep the Georgia lead at 4-1 going into the fifth inning stretch. Coupled with strong defensive play, Mathis shut down the Aggies once again in the sixth inning.
A two-run home run off the bat of Dani Elder in the top of the seventh inning cut the Georgia lead to 4-3. Avant then entered the game in relief, retiring the next three batters and securing the series win.
Georgia will look for the sweep of the Aggies Sunday at 2 p.m. at Jack Turner Stadium.
