[su_spacer size=”20″] The Georgia softball team suffered a 7-6 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA Super Regional on May 22 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Georgia ends its season with an overall record of 44-17, while Michigan improves to 55-6.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Chelsea Wilkinson (28-11) suffered the loss. She allowed six runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings of work. She also struck out three. Brittany Gray closed things out, throwing the final 1.1 innings, allowing just one run on one hit and a walk. Haylie Wagner (22-2) got the win after coming on in relief of Megan Betsa. Wagner allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 6.0 innings. She also struck out six. Betsa lasted just 0.2 innings, but came back to earn her fourth save of the year. She allowed three runs on two hits, a walk and two hit batters.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia got off to a fast start, taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With one away, Cortni Emanuel was hit by a pitch. Alex Hugo then took the second pitch of her at bat over the left field wall for her 22nd home run of the year that put Georgia up 2-0. Two batters later, Tina Iosefa lifted her eighth home run into the centerfield stands to extend Georgia’s lead to 3-0.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Michigan responded with a solo home run of its own in the top of the second inning to cut the lead to 3-1. The Wolverines then tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the third inning on a trio of singles and a sacrifice fly.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Wolverines took the lead in the top of the fourth on a solo home run. They kept the pressure on in the fifth, scoring two runs to extend its lead to 6-3.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs didn’t go away quietly, cutting the lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Anna Swafford got the inning started by reaching on an error by the Michigan third baseman. Tina Iosefa followed with a double into the right field corner. With no outs, Niaja Griffin drove in Swafford on a RBI groundout. A fielder’s choice and a single up the middle put two more on for the Bulldogs, but a strikeout ended the inning before another run could come home.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia continued to put up a fight in the bottom of the seventh. Sydni Emanuel led off with a single before coming home a towering two-out home run by Swafford. With Michigan’s lead down to one at 7-6, Iosefa delivered a single to put the tying run at first, forcing Michigan to bring Betsa back into the circle. She got the job done, getting the final batter to pop up to second.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia concluded its season by making its 14th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and its eighth appearance in a NCAA Super Regional.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Photo credit: Stephen Colquitt/UGA Sports Communications