After two days of round-robin-style action, the No. 21 Georgia Gwinnett softball team wrapped up the Green and Gray Invitational with a pair of wins to take three of its four games against Rio Grande (Ohio) and Thomas (Ga.) on the weekend.
The Grizzlies (14-4) went up 6-0 on Rio Grande (3-3) in the first two innings and held on for the 6-4 victory in game one while freshman Elyssa Melton propelled the Grizzlies to a 2-1, eighth-inning, walk-off victory over Thomas (Ga.) in game two. Freshman Taylor Hansis captured her first collegiate victory in the circle for the Grizzlies in game one while junior Chelsi Palazzo picked up game two's victory.
"Today was a total team effort, and it's nice to come away from a weekend of strong competition with some victories," stated GGC head coach Kat Ihlenburg. "The pitching staff did a good job of keeping us in both games. Our hitters did a nice job of producing runs in game one to help Taylor pick up her first career win while the defense really was strong in game two against Thomas, giving us an opportunity to win."
Georgia Gwinnett blasted out to an early lead in Sunday's contest against Rio Grande. The Grizzlies started the game off with a five-run first inning to take the early lead over the Red Storm. The Grizzly of the Day, Melton, led the inning off with a single and came around to score on a single to right by second baseman Haley Thompson. With one out in the inning, third baseman Brashante Dareus broke out of her three-game hitting slump by ripping an RBI-single to right-center. Two pitches later, Palazzo pushed the third Grizzly run of the inning across the plate with a grounder to second.
The two-out rally continued with back-to-back doubles by left fielder Alyssa Hathcoat and right fielder Mary Burk to plate the fourth and fifth runs of the game.
One inning later, GGC pushed its final run of game one across the plate when Dareus lifted her second RBI-single of the game just over the outstretched glove of Rio Grande's second baseman.
Hansis continued to dominate in the circle for the Grizzlies, striking out seven while surrendering four runs, two earned, in her 6.1 innings of work. While Hansis picked up the victory, the freshman did face some late adversity with a one-out rally by Rio Grande in the final inning of play. The Red Storm pushed a run across in the sixth and three more runs in the seventh, but GGC's early advantage held strong en route to the 6-4 victory. Junior reliever Katie Jo Goodwin came on in relief in the seventh to pick up the save while Rio Grande's Kelsey Conkey received the loss.
The final game of the Invitational between Thomas (6-5) and Georgia Gwinnett came down to the final two innings. Thomas, which broke a scoreless game up in the top of the fifth to take a 1-0 lead, took the field in the seventh three outs from victory. The Grizzlies had other plans, however, for the Lady Night Hawks, as Hathcoat reached on four straight balls to put the tying run on base with one out in the inning. After consecutive wild pitches by Thomas' reliever Ashley Chapman allowed Hathcoat to advance to third, Palazzo tied the game at 1-1 with a seeing-eye RBI-single to shallow left.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect in extra innings, each team received a baserunner on second to begin the inning with no outs. Palazzo delivered seven pitches to work out of the inning, giving the Grizzlies the opportunity for the walk-off.
With center fielder Tori Heinemann on second for the Grizzlies, coach Ihlenburg gave Heinemann the green light on the first pitch of the extra inning. Heinemann stole third and was 60 feet away from a Grizzly walk-off victory. Facing a 3-2 count, Melton capitalized on a fastball over the plate and ripped a single to center for the walk-off, 2-1 victory in favor of the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies return to the diamond on Tuesday as they host Montreat (N.C.) in doubleheader action. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m. with game two starting approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Tickets for Tuesday's action are $5 for adults, $3 for youth, seniors, and military, and free for children under five. All members of the GGC community receive free admission with their Claw Card. Season ticket packages are also on sale for all regular season contests. For more information on ticketing, click here. Free game day parking is available in the deck at the entrance to the GGC campus.
Game Day Central
Video coverage:
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ggc/
Live stats links:
Game 1: http://bit.ly/1RZUJ7N
Game 2: http://bit.ly/1QehSSM
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