Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

LAWRENCEVILLE - The Georgia Gwinnett softball program rode one of the best pitching performances this season to a game one win and exploded for 14 runs in the second game as the Grizzlies swept both halves of a doubleheader over Montreat at Grizzly Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon.

GGC pitcher Kayla Byrom was at her best in the opener, tossing a shutout and facing just one batter over the minimum to lead the Green and Gray to a 6-0 victory. The Statham native struck out eight in the contest and moved to 10-3 in the circle this season.

"This is the best outing that we've seen from Kayla this season," GGC Head Coach Kat Ihlenburg said. "After watching her warm-up yesterday and seeing how sharp she was, I expected her to come out strong today. I think she was looking forward to getting the start, and it was exciting to see how well she performed."

The Grizzlies (30-12) won the second game in 14-3 fashion in five innings, with Cassidy Littlefield once again helming the offensive assault. The Slocomb, Ala. Native finished 6-for-8 at the plate over the day's two games, touching home four times and swiping three bases. Alycia Fields, Mary Burk and Abby Hulsey each enjoyed four-hit days as the team out-hit the visitors from North Carolina 27-10 over the two games.

GGC has now won 10 consecutive games and all 22 that have been played at Grizzly Softball Complex.

The Grizzlies drew first blood in the third inning as both Hulsey and Fields singled home a run before Haley Thompson beat out the tag on a fielder's choice to make it 3-0. Thompson would be the one to push across a run two innings later, plating Mary Burk, and a Melanie Recher wild pitch later in the frame made it 5-0.

GGC would tack on another in the sixth before a Dezaree Avallone base hit with two outs in the top of seventh prevented Byrom from facing the minimum.

Timely hitting was the major difference in the day's second game as GGC pushed across its first 11 runs of the game with two outs, beginning with a nine-run first inning.

After GGC starter Katie Lange surrendered a pair of scores in the top of the first, the Grizzlies sent 13 hitters to the plate in the ensuing half-inning, registering nine hits, but perhaps none as big as Ashley Beyke's three-run single, which firmly put the Green and Gray ahead at 6-2. A Littlefield single followed by back-to-back doubles from Burk and Hulsey capped the frame's scoring.

In the second inning, Chelsi Palazzo scored on a wild pitch before Beyke doubled home another.

Beyke finished the game 3-for-3 with four RBI and a pair of runs.

Montreat's Melina Wilkinson homered in the top of the fourth, but GGC pushed three more across in the bottom half of the frame to account for the game's final score.

The Grizzlies will return to action on Tuesday with a doubleheader vs. Middle Georgia before wrapping up the regular season against No. 2 Auburn-Montgomery on Wednesday.

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