The No. 21 Georgia Gwinnett softball team gutted out a pair of come-from-behind victories Wednesday evening over Truett-McConnell (Ga.), including one in walk-off fashion, for 3-2 and 5-3 wins at the Grizzly Softball Complex.
Elyssa Melton's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh handed the Grizzlies (18-4) the victory in the opener before GGC dug itself out of an early 2-0 hole in game two to hang on late for another win.
The wins capped an impressive 18-game homestand that saw Georgia Gwinnett go 16-2.
Alyssa Hathcoat and Alycia Fields each had three hits on the day to pace the GGC attack while Katie Lange (4-2) and Katie Jo Goodwin (3-1) earned the wins in the circle.
"These were two big victories for our team tonight to come from behind and battle the whole way through," said GGC head coach Kat Ihlenburg. "We faced adversity in both contests and after rallying for the win in game one, we just never let up and fought hard the rest of the day."
Game 1- GGC 3, TMC 2
With Truett-McConnell (8-10) starter Harlee Grogan holding the Grizzly offense hitless into the sixth inning of game one, Lange went the distance for the Grizzlies in the circle, keeping GGC in it with six strikeouts, allowing just two runs on four hits.
A fourth-inning solo home run by TMC's Milly Martinet accounted for the lone score for much of the game.
The Grizzlies would break up Grogan's no-hit bid in the sixth with a clutch two-out, two-run single by senior Haley Thompson to score Hathcoat and Aubree Cox, pushing GGC ahead by a 2-1 score.
After the Bears fought back to tie the game, 2-2, in the top of the seventh, a key defensive play by Brashante Dareus thwarted a run-scoring attempt at the plate, and Lange induced a groundout to send GGC back up to bat with the game still tied.
Mary Burk then started the GGC rally in the bottom of the inning with a one-out single. Hathcoat followed with a single to push Burk to third base, and after TMC brought in a relief pitcher, Melton lined a 2-2 pitch off the outstretched glove of the Bears' third baseman for a single to shallow left field to plate Burk and win the game for the Grizzlies.
Game 2- GGC 5, TMC 3
Once again it was the Bears who were first on the scoreboard, plating single runs in the first and third innings against Goodwin. The GGC junior would allow just one earned run over 4.1 innings as the Grizzly bats got going in the third. Thompson's RBI groundout scored Dareus to cut the deficit in half, then Kodi Ricketson tied the game, 2-2, with an RBI single to score Fields.
After holding the Bears scoreless in the top of the fourth, the Grizzlies scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. Fields scored Hathcoat on an RBI single and Thompson made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly to score Melton.
A one-out single by TMC in the fifth brought in GGC reliever Ashley Beyke, and though the Bears would make it a 4-3 game at one point, Beyke kept the Grizzlies ahead with 2.2 innings of relief to earn her first save of the season.
The Grizzlies' final run came in the bottom of the sixth when Hathcoat tripled and scored on a bunt by Melton for an insurance tally.
"It was great to see our pitching options at work today and Ashley Beyke come in to finish out game two," added Ihlenburg. "These were big wins for our team, especially heading into a challenging weekend ahead at the Gulf Shores invitational."
Ihlenburg's squad heads to Gulf Shores, Ala., for two games each on Friday and Saturday. Action begins against Bethel (Tenn.) Friday morning and continues against No. 9 William Carey (Miss.) in the afternoon. On Saturday, No. 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) and Houston-Victoria (Texas), which is also receiving national votes, each await the Grizzlies.
