Georgia Softball Grabs Two Wins in Citrus Classic

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Georgia Softball Grabs Two Wins in Citrus Classic

Georgia’s Chaycie Goggins (Photo by Sean Taylor)
[break] The No. 8 Georgia softball team picked up a pair of wins over Indiana and James Madison on the second day of the Citrus Classic on Friday, Feb. 27 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla. The Bulldogs defeated Indiana 4-1 in the first game of the day before taking down JMU 7-1. With the wins, Georgia is now 15-2 on the year.

Georgia 4, Indiana 1

The Bulldogs took a 4-1 win over Indiana in the first game of the day. Brittany Gray earned her fourth win of the year and her second over Indiana this seaso with a complete-game performance. She allowed one run on six hits and struck out four batters to move to 4-0 on the year. Lora Olsen suffered the loss to drop to 1-7 on the year. She allowed four runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits in 4.1 innings of work. Miranda Tamayo also saw action, throwing the final 2.2 innings.

Alex Hugo and Sydni Emanuel led the Georgia offense, each picking up two hits. Hugo went 2-for-3 with a home run, her sixth of the year. S. Emanuel was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI.

After a pair of quiet innings, the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Cortni Emanuel got the inning started with a one-out infield single. After stealing second and third, she scored on a single to right by S. Emanuel that put the Bulldogs up 1-0.

Indiana answered with a run in the bottom of the third, tying the game at 1-1 on an RBI single by Rebecca Blitz.

The tie game didn’t last long as Hugo led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to center field that put Georgia up 2-1.

The Bulldogs added two more runs in the fifth inning that made it a 4-1 game.  An error, a single and an intentional walk loaded the bases for Kaylee Puailoa, who delivered a sacrifice fly that scored S. Emanuel for the third run of the game.  A passed ball allowed Paige Wilson to score from second and extend Georgia’s lead to 4-1.

Indiana threatened in both the sixth and seventh innings, putting two runners on in each. Gray settled in and struck out the final batter in each inning to preserve the 4-1 win.

Georgia 7, JMU 1

Georgia used a seven run sixth inning to defeat JMU 7-1 in the nightcap. Wilson led the charge for the Georgia offense, going 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI. Anna Swafford recorded her third home run of the season in a 1-for-3 performance.

Chelsea Wilkinson earned her 10th win of the season in the complete-game performance. She allowed one run on seven hits and struck out nine. Jailyn Ford suffered the loss to fall to 2-3. She allowed six runs, five earned, on eight hits in 5.0 innings of work. She also struck out six. Heather Kiefer threw the final inning for the Dukes, allowing one run on one hit.

The offenses were quiet over the first three innings. JMU broke through for a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

With the bats quiet over the first five innings, Georgia erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 7-0 lead. An error and back-to-back infield singles loaded the bases for Wilson. With no outs and the bases loaded, she laced a double through the left side, allowing the speedy trio of Samantha LaZear, C. Emanuel and S. Emanuel to score and give Georgia a 3-1 lead. Hugo followed with a double of her own to put runners at second and third with no outs. Wilson and Hugo came home on a single up the middle off the bat of Puailoa. The two-run single prompted the Dukes to make a call to thebullpen for Heather Kiefer. Swafford greeted Kiefer with a two-run home run to center field that put the Bulldogs up 7-1. It was Swafford’s third home run of the season.

Wilkinson entered the circle in the seventh needing just three outs. Despite giving up a single, she struck the final batter out to seal the 7-1 win and the sweep.

Georgia continues play in the Citrus Classic tomorrow, Feb. 28, when it takes on Penn State and Fordham at 1:15 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.

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Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.