The No. 10 Georgia Gwinnett softball team captured its ninth series sweep of the 2016 season on Tuesday as the Grizzlies collected two wins against Southern Wesleyan (S.C.).
The Grizzlies (35-13) took eight innings to defeat the Warriors (16-20) 7-2 in game one and then run-ruled Southern Wesleyan in five innings en route to a 10-0 shutout victory in the night cap of the twin bill. Tuesday's victories give the Grizzlies the all-time series lead against Southern Wesleyan as GGC has now won six of the 10 meetings.
"We played great today against a tough opponent," stated GGC head coach Kat Ihlenburg. "We battled back in game one to pull out the victory and wrapped up our season series with Southern Wesleyan with a dominant pitching performance by [Ashley] Beyke in game two."
In game one, the Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two innings of play before the Grizzlies responded with a run in the top of the third. In the first inning, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead on an RBI-grounder by third baseman Lizzie Fela. An inning later, Southern Wesleyan pushed its advantage to 2-0 with an RBI-single to left by Sara Sweatt.
Georgia Gwinnett broke up the shutout in the top of the third with an RBI-double by third baseman Kodi Ricketson. Two innings later, Ricketson would strike again with her second RBI-double of the day, tying the game at 2-2.
After seven innings of regulation play, SWU and GGC sat tied at 2-2 and went into extra innings utilizing the international tiebreaker format. With Courtney McKenzie at second base, catcher Alycia Fields led the eighth inning off with a go-ahead RBI-double to put the Grizzlies on top 3-2. A grounder by right fielder Mary Burk moved Fields to third while a sacrifice fly by center fielder Tori Heinemann plated Fields for the fourth Grizzly run of the game. Up 4-2, second baseman Haley Thompson ripped a bases loaded, two-run single to right field to give GGC the 6-2 advantage. The final run of the inning came on the second SWU wild pitch of the inning.
Reliever Katie Lange closed out the game in the bottom of the eighth to pick up the win for the Grizzlies. Lange pitched four innings of shutout work, striking out two batters. SWU's Natalie Johnson was credited with the loss, surrendering all five of the eighth inning's runs.
In game two, GGC starter Ashley Beyke (11-1) pitched a complete game, five-inning shutout, surrendering just four hits while striking out three of the 19 batters she faced.
GGC opened the game with a 3-0 lead in the first inning of play. Ricketson's third double of the day plated the first two Grizzlies of the inning while an RBI-single by Fields scored the third run of the contest.
Two innings later, the Grizzlies pushed their lead to 7-0. An RBI-single by first baseman Hailey Burnham pushed the GGC lead to 4-0 while a fielding error by SWU's left fielder allowed Ricketson to score the fifth run of game two. Back-to-back RBI-singles by Heinemann and left fielder Alyssa Hathcoat increased the Grizzlies' lead to 7-0.
Georgia Gwinnett wrapped up the contest in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs for the run-rule victory. Hathcoat's second RBI-single of the game pushed the lead to 8-0 while a two-run double by pinch hitter Josie Nunn sealed the 10-0 win.
The Grizzlies return to action on Saturday when they travel to Alabama to face Talladega in doubleheader action. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. with game two starting approximately 30 minutes after the completion of game one.
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