April 6, 2014
GGC 6, Milligan 5
Milligan 5, GGC 4
In a close day of action, the Georgia Gwinnett softball team split a pair of one-run decisions with Milligan (Tenn.) on Sunday at the Grizzly Softball Complex in Lawrenceville.
The Grizzlies got a two-out RBI single from Alycia Fields to take game one in extra innings, 6-5, before their comeback bid in game two fell short in a 5-4 defeat.
GGC stands at 27-7-1 on the season while Milligan is now 17-10.
Game One: GGC 6, Milligan 5 (8 Innings)
Starter Kayla Byrom went the distance for GGC, allowing five runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts.
GGC was outhit in the contest, 11-8, but scored five runs in the sixth inning to erase an early 2-0 hole and set up the walk-off win.
After threatening to score in the early innings, the Buffaloes finally broke through with two runs in the top of the fourth. A two-out RBI single scored the first run, immediately followed by an RBI double to center field.
GGC was limited to one hit- a bloop double by Fields in the third- through the first four innings.
Trailing by two runs entering the sixth inning, the Grizzlies scored five runs in the frame to jump ahead.
Mary Burk led off the sixth with a double, Jordyn Fones reached on an error and Marlee Morales walked to load the bases. Cassidy Littlefield promptly unloaded the bases with a three-run double off the wall in left field. Halley Ingram drove home Littlefield with a bunt single that got by the shortstop. After Ingram stole second, Haley Thompson hit an RBI single.
The Grizzlies’ brief 5-2 advantage ended in the next inning as Chancli Connaster belted a two-out, three-run homer to tie the game for Milligan, 5-5. The Grizzlies kept it tied but could not score in the bottom of the inning as the game went to an eighth inning.
Facing a two-on, nobody out situation in the first extra frame, Byrom induced a double play and a groundout to end the threat.
In their turn in the eighth, the Grizzlies pushed runner Cassidy Littlefield to third on a sac bunt, but a bunt fielder’s choice caught up Littlefield between third and home for the second out as Heaven Hinton advanced to second. Fields then stepped to the plate and lined a single back up the middle to score Hinton on a close play at the plate and give GGC the 6-5 win.
It was the Grizzlies’ fourth win in five extra-inning affairs this year.
Game Two: Milligan 5, GGC 4
In game two, the Grizzlies faced a 5-1 hole in the fifth inning and rallied to make it 5-4 before dropping the one-run decision.
Ashleigh Simmons and Littlefield led GGC with two hits apiece. Starter Ashley Beyke took the loss despite striking out six batters over 7.0 innings, yielding four earned runs and nine hits.
Milligan built a 2-0 lead by the third inning, but GGC cut the deficit in half in the third on a single by Littlefield to score Jordyn Fones.
The Buffaloes added one score in the fourth and used a GGC fielding error to push across two in the fifth for a 5-1 lead.
The Grizzlies then mounted a three-run rally in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Simmons singled, Morales singled and Littlefield drove in Simmons with a double to right-center. Ingram reached on an error to load the bases and Hinton drew a walk to bring in a run before a sac fly from Alycia Fields made it 5-4. The final out came on the basepaths to keep GGC down one, and neither team scored over the final two innings as Milligan earned the win.
Fields finished with four hits on the day while Littlefield had two.
Georgia Gwinnett now travels to Laurinburg, N.C., on Tuesday, for a doubleheader at St. Andrews starting at 2 p.m. The Grizzlies return home Thursday against Voorhees (S.C.).
