Softball:
#8 Georgia 2, Bowling Green 0
Sophomore Lauren Mathis (5-1) pitched
At the plate, Alyssa DiCarlo was responsible for the game’s lone RBI. Four Bulldogs combined for Georgia’s four total hits on the evening.
Georgia jumped on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning, proving to be the difference makers in the game. Ciara Bryan beat out a single deep in the hole at short to lead off the inning then stole second. She came in to score on a double to the wall in right by DiCarlo. After advancing on a groundout, DiCarlo scored when the third baseman couldn’t handle a ground ball, widening the lead to 2-0.
Both Mathis and Bowling Green’s Brooke Parker worked scoreless softball the remainder of the game to hold the score at 2-0 in favor of the Bulldogs.
#8 Bulldogs 5, Elon 0
The nightcap was highlighted by a 2-for-3 performance by Bryan with three RBI, a triple, and a home run. Jordan Doggett finished 2-for-3 as well against Elon.
In the circle, Avant (4-1) earned her first complete-game shutout of the season, working seven innings and tying a career-high 10 strikeouts.
With Doggett and CJ Landrum on with one out in the bottom of the second, Bryan laced her fourth triple of the season down the right field line, plating both runs. An error by the first baseman quickly allowed Bryan come in to score, putting Georgia on top by three runs, 3-0.
The triple by Bryan was the 14th in her career, moving her into sole possession of fourth place on Georgia’s all-time triples list.
Bryan added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff home run. DiCarlo followed up two batters later with her 11th home run of the season, 5-0 Georgia. The homer was the 56th of her career, tying her for second all-time with Alex Hugo (2014-16).
Avant shut down the Phoenix the rest of the game, securing the shutout for the Bulldogs.
Georgia is back in action Saturday when it will rematch Bowling Green (1 p.m.) and Elon (3:30 p.m.) at Jack Turner Stadium.
Baseball
Ninth-ranked Georgia tied a school record with a pair of grand slams as part of an offensive highlight reel in a 17-0 victory against Presbyterian College Friday at Foley Field.
Sophomore right-hander Emerson Hancock worked six shutout innings against the Blue Hose after escaping a bases-loaded situation in the first inning. Hancock notched eight strikeouts to bring his season total to 25 and improved his record to 4-0. Sophomore Darryn Pasqua tossed two scoreless frames. Junior Christian Ryder took care of the ninth as the Bulldogs ran their record to 12-2 while the Blue Hose dropped to 6-7.
Georgia graduate transfer John Cable started the game as the Bulldogs’ designated hitter and ignited the offense in the second inning with a double to center field. Cable scored on a single by freshman Randon Jernigan (2-for-2, 3 runs). An RBI double by junior center fielder Tucker Maxwell capped the Bulldogs’ offensive effort for the inning. Junior third baseman Aaron Schunk homered to left field to extend Georgia’s lead in the third inning to 3-0.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning, sophomore right fielder Riley King knocked a ball over the left field fence for his first career grand slam and third home run of the season and an 8-0 advantage. The Bulldogs loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth inning to set the stage for Maxwell (2-for-2, 6 RBI). The junior from Dawsonville, Georgia, launched a ball to right field for his first career grand slam and 11th career home run. The Bulldogs added seven runs in the fifth and single runs in the sixth and seventh for the final.
Dawg Tracks
– Sophomore Riley King notched his first career grand slam and third home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning as part of a career-high 5 RBI day.
– Junior Tucker Maxwell hit his first career grand slam and 11th career home run in the bottom of the fifth inning as he tallied a career-high six RBI.
– This is the fourth game in Georgia Bulldog history with two grand slams (1982 against Vanderbilt, 1987 against Georgia College and 2009 against Ohio State in an NCAA Regional game in Tallahassee, Fla.).
– Graduate transfer John Cable, juniors Tucker Maxwell and Aaron Schunk each extended hitting streaks to four games.
(Photo by Steven Colquitt)
Women’s Tennis
Play dwindled down to the last two singles courts before the No. 2-ranked Georgia women’s tennis team outlasted No. 15 LSU in the Bulldogs’ Southeastern Conference home opener Friday evening.
For the third-straight match, the Bulldogs took the doubles point to head into singles with the 1-0 lead. Sophomore Vivian Wolff and freshman Lourdes Carle won in straight sets on courts four and three, respectively, to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers won the other two courts that started play in the four-court Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts. The result then hinged on junior Elena Christofi in a third-set on court five and freshman Meg Kowalski who ended up powering past her opponent to clinch Georgia’s 10th-straight win.
“It’s just good to get another SEC win,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “It would’ve been nice to play outside, but the weather put us inside. It was good to see us get the doubles point. We got down 3-0 on court three and came back and won. It was the second week in a row our team did that, which shows good resiliency. We never got out of it, [you] got to keep fighting. In singles, I thought Elena [Christofi] did a great job of staying on that court and making it a little bit easier for Meg [Kowalski] to close it out. She didn’t go away, she never does, and she just keeps fighting. That’s really important. I think Lourdes [Carle] looked really solid and I think Vivian [Wolff] had a great day – her doubles and singles were just MVP stuff.”