UGA Softball Team
(Photo by David Barnes)
The bats were hot for the 15th-ranked UGA softball team (40-16, 12-12) on Sunday, as the Bulldogs won the series finale 9-5 at No. 4 Alabama (45-11, 16-8).
The win closed out the regular season for the Bulldogs as well as giving the team its 40th win of the year, marking 15-consecutive seasons with 40 or more wins.
Five Bulldogs had two hits each in the contest, highlighted by home runs from seniors Tina Iosefa and Katie Browne. Alex Hugo posted her 19th double of the year while Kaylee Puailoa and Brea Dickey notched two hits as well. Georgia took its hits off of three Tide pitchers, as Sydney Littlejohn (22-5) took the loss after 3.2 innings and eight hits allowed.
Senior Chelsea Wilkinson (23-6) earned the win, going six innings with eight hits and four runs allowed, as three were earned, and striking out four. Kylie Bass came in to get the final three outs after the Tide started a rally in the seventh. The freshman allowed one hit and one run while posting the game-ending strikeout.
The Bulldogs reached the scoreboard in the first, capitalizing right away with two runs on three hits and an error. Alabama cut it immediately with a solo home run in the bottom frame, making it a 2-1 game.
Georgia stayed aggressive, outscoring the Tide 7-1 in the middle frames. After Iosefa’s leadoff home run in the third, Georgia put up three in the fourth from RBI singles by Alyssa DiCarlo and Puailoa to make it 6-1. Browne added another with her second home run of the year in the fifth.
Two insurance runs came in the sixth to seal Georgia’s nine runs from a Sumerlin RBI and an error on a Browne hit. Alabama rallied out three runs in the bottom seventh, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Up next for Georgia is play at the SEC Tournament, beginning on Wednesday in Starkville, Mississippi. Georgia is the No. 8 seed taking on ninth-seeded Ole Miss at 5 p.m. ET with coverage on SEC Network. The tournament is single elimination with the top four seeds earning byes, as a Bulldog win would move them to Thursday’s game to face No. 1 Florida.
HOW TO FOLLOW GEORGIA SOFTBALL: For complete information on Georgia softball, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGASoftball on Twitter and Instagram and UGASoftball on Facebook.