The No. 13 Georgia Gwinnett softball team split its two games on Tuesday on day two of the NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round.
The Grizzlies (43-18) fell to top-seeded St. Xavier (Ill.) 5-1 in game one while they picked up a 4-3 walk-off victory in the night cap over Brenau (Ga.) to advance to Wednesday's Georgia Gwinnett Bracket championship game against St. Xavier.
The rematch between the two teams will take place at noon at the Grizzly Softball Complex with the winner receiving an automatic berth to NAIA Softball World Series in Sioux City, Iowa, May 27-June 2.
The Grizzlies must win both contests to advance while the Cougars will only need a victory in tomorrow's noon showdown to move on to the World Series.
"I am really satisfied with the overall effort that we gave today," stated GGC head coach Kat Ihlenburg. "Once again, our seniors stepped up, provided leadership, and came up big when we needed key hits and outs. We look forward to tomorrow's opportunity and the chance to play for a spot in the NAIA Softball World Series."
Game 1: St. Xavier 5 – GGC 1
No. 5 ranked and top-seed St. Xavier (42-7-1) remains unbeaten in the Georgia Gwinnett bracket and advances to Wednesday's championship game with a 5-1 victory against No. 13 and second-seeded Georgia Gwinnett.
SXU's Nicole Nonnemacher pitched a complete game against the Grizzlies, striking out 14 batters while surrendering just one run on four hits. Nonnemacher's 14th strikeout was her 400th for the season.
The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a sacrifice fly by Nonnemacher. Two innings later, St. Xavier extended its lead to 4-0 with an RBI-single by Nonnemacher and a two-run home run over the left field fence by catcher Brittany Plimmer.
Georgia Gwinnett cut the lead to 4-1 in the fifth with an RBI-single to shallow left by left fielder Alyssa Hathcoat. Hathcoat led the Grizzlies at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance.
In the top of the seventh, the Cougars added an insurance run with an RBI-single to right field by center fielder Kasey Kanaga for the 5-1 advantage.
Nonnemacher (27-3) picked up the win for the Cougars while GGC's Chelsi Palazzo (8-1) was credited with the loss.
Game 2: GGC 4 – Brenau 3
GGC survived and moved on to the NAIA Softball Opening Round championship game on Wednesday with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Brenau (30-24) on Tuesday night. The 7:30 p.m. start, originally slated for 5 p.m., was delayed to rain earlier in the day that pushed all contests back two and half hours.
The Grizzlies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning of play with a sacrifice fly to deep left by first baseman Hailey Burnham. Previously, catcher Alycia Fields led the inning off with a double to the left-center field gap before scoring on Burnham's hit.
In the bottom of the sixth, Georgia Gwinnett added two more runs to take the 3-0 advantage. A solo home run over the left field fence by third baseman Brashante Dareus made it 2-0 in the Grizzlies' favor while an erred throw by Brenau's center fielder pushed the gap to 3-0.
Heading into their final three outs of the game, the Golden Tigers rallied to score three runs and tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh. A bases loaded walk and an RBI-grounder by Savannah Moore cut the lead within one, 3-2, while the tying run scored on a one-out infield single by Courtney Kenney.
Georgia Gwinnett bounced back in the bottom of the seventh and rallied to a 4-3 walk-off victory. With one out in the inning, center fielder Tori Heinemann launched a double off the left-center field wall. Three pitches later, Hathcoat played hero for the Grizzlies as she hit the second consecutive double of the inning to the right-center gap to drive in Heinemann for the 4-3 walk-off victory in favor of the Grizzlies.
GGC's Katie Lange picked up the victory while Brenau's Jessica Rathje suffered the loss.
With the victory, the Grizzlies move on to face St. Xavier in the Georgia Gwinnett Bracket championship game at noon on Wednesday, May 18.
Live video coverage of Wednesday's championship game can be accessed on the Grizzly Digital Network beginning with pre-game coverage starting at 11:45 a.m.
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