Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

LAWRENCEVILLE - The Georgia Gwinnett softball team was happy to get back to its home field after a pair of difficult tournaments, and it showed as the team swept past No. 24 USC Beaufort at Grizzly Softball Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

"The team really enjoys coming out here and trying to make Grizzly Softball Complex a fortress for us," GGC Head Coach Kat Ihlenburg said. "The routine of coming out here is a big help for us, but there's also a sense of ownership here. They don't want anyone else to win here, and they come out and compete like that."

"When your team has that mentality and confidence coming out to play, it's usually going to be a good day," she continued. "I could feel that confidence slip a bit in some of the games over the weekend with tough losses like the ones to Freed-Hardeman and Thomas, but we came out and practiced well yesterday, so I thought we'd be able to bounce back today and we did."

The Grizzlies, which now sit at 12-8 on the year, own a perfect 8-0 record in Lawrenceville, with half of the wins coming over teams currently ranked in the NAIA Top 25 poll. Pitching is what seemed to guide the team on Tuesday as Ashley Beyke and Kayla Byrom combined to give up just one earned run over 14 innings as GGC won by scores of 4-0 and 6-4.

USCB dropped to 10-8 on the year.

In the day's opening game, Kayla Byrom got the nod in the circle and turned in one her best performances of the season, tossing a complete game shutout and allowing six hits and striking out four. The senior out of Statham improved to 4-3 on the year.

"Kayla was waiting for a breakthrough performance like the one she had today," Ihlenburg said. "I had a feeling that she'd be ready to go and she delivered. She's come into some tough situations this season, and she really pitched well. I'm very happy with her performance."

"I was really amped to pitch today," Byrom added. "I hate to lose, and we all wanted to go all out in everything today. We don't want to lose on our home field, and we just came out and knew what we need to do to win here. Now we have to keep it going."

Cassidy Littlefield continued to impress in her senior season at the plate, leading the GGC offense with a 3-for-4 outing, but it was a Chelsi Palazzo two-run homer in the first inning that got the engine going as GGC raced out to an early 3-0 lead over the visitors from South Carolina.

From there it would turn into a pitching duel between Byrom and USCB starter Kristy Cook, with the Sand Sharks mounting their best challenge in the bottom of the sixth as a pair of singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. However, Byrom would get out of it with a Taylor Triplett flyout to center to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

Beyke came on as a pinch runner in the bottom of the frame and scored an insurance run, but she'd make her biggest contribution later in the afternoon as she tossed a complete game as well in the second game. A junior out of Franklin, Tenn., Beyke allowed five hits over the seven frames, surrendering four runs (one earned).

GGC once again drew first blood as Abby Hulsey picked up a two-out single in the opening stanza, the first of three hits for the junior in the game, and she'd ultimately score on a Palazzo single to spot the Green and Gray a 1-0 advantage.

A pair of errors to start the third ultimately came back to haunt the Grizzlies as USCB pushed across three runs in the frame to give the Sand Sharks their first lead over GGC in three games this season. It would be the last noise the visitors would make for a while as Beyke was able to pick up 11 consecutive outs before giving up a single in the top of the sixth.

"I knew that my defense would still have my back, and we all kind of settled down after that," Beyke said of the third inning. "We all felt confident that we were going to do well today. It was tough at those tournaments, but after practice yesterday I knew we'd come out ready to go."

The Grizzlies loaded the bases in the bottom half of the third, but were only able to manage one score as Mary Burk singled home a score before a strikeout ended the threat.

GGC finally pushed ahead with a four-run sixth as Ashleigh Simmons earned a lead-off walk and then moved into scoring position on a Jordyn Fones sacrifice bunt. Alycia Fields earned a walk before Tori Heinemann took over in her stead as a pinch runner, and Littlefield came up with single to right to tie it up. Alyssa Hathcoat and Heinemann were able to execute a successful squeeze play just moments later as GGC pulled ahead 4-3, and a Palazzo single later in the frame scored two more to make it 6-3.

USCB's Haley Brown homered in the top of the seventh, but it wouldn't be enough as GGC collected its fifth win of the season over a ranked opponent.

The Grizzlies will return to action on Wednesday with a doubleheader against Hiwassee, beginning at 1 p.m. at Grizzly Softball Complex.

NOTES: GGC is 30-19-1 all-time in the month of March ... GGC is now 3-4 all-time vs. USCB with all three wins coming this season ... The Grizzlies are 12-8 all-time vs. opponents that hail from the state of South Carolina ... Haley Thompson reached base six times on Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with three walks ... GGC's previous six games at Grizzly Softball Complex had been run-rule-shortened victories ... Of the Grizzlies' five wins over ranked opponents this season, three have been over USC Beaufort and the other two were against No. 3 Reinhardt.

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