The 13th-ranked Georgia Gwinnett softball team is off to its best start in the program's five-year history as the Grizzlies have now reached a 24-5 record behind Saturday's doubleheader sweep of Tennessee Wesleyan (9-7).
With the sweep, the Grizzlies are also on a nine-game winning streak, which is the second longest in program history (12 consecutive wins in 2015 season).
During the doubleheader, the Grizzlies held Alumni Day, featuring former Grizzlies throughout the program's five-year history.
"Having all of our alumni back with us today and picking up a doubleheader sweep in front of them was fantastic," said GGC head coachKat Ihlenburg. "Today marks a celebration of the direction that our program is taking and the continued support and growth it has experienced since day one. I thought our pitching staff did an excellent job today and really thought Sydney [Willhite] saw the ball great today and, in turn, had productive at-bats."
In game one, the Grizzlies used a five-run first inning to open the contest with a 5-0 advantage over the Bulldogs. Shortstop Brashante Dareus put the Grizzlies on the board with an RBI-triple, scoring center fielder Niki Cook who led off the contest with a five-pitch walk. First baseman Hailey Burnham made it 2-0 in GGC's favor with a grounder to second, scoring Dareus, while freshman Sydney Willhite pushed the Grizzlies' gap to 3-0 with a solo home run over the left field scoreboard. The shot was Willhite's third home run of the season. Later in the inning, catcher Anya Vandersip drove in GGC's fourth and fifth runs of the inning with a two-run bloop single to shallow left.
Leading 5-0, Dareus added an insurance run in the bottom of the second, lifting her fifth home run of the season over the right-center field fence. The solo shot gave Georgia Gwinnett a 6-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, the Bulldogs scored their first run of the day with a bases loaded walk to first baseman Alyssa King.
GGC scored its final run of game one with a grounder to short by Dareus, scoring Cook. Previously, Cook reached on a leadoff single.
Tennessee Wesleyan rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh, but the Bulldogs could not overcome GGC's early lead as the Grizzlies' starting pitcher, Taylor Hansis, forced TWU's designated player Courtney Black to pop out to second to end the game with a 7-3 Grizzly victory.
Hansis (11-3) recorded her 11th win of 2017 in the complete-game victory, surrendering just three runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out four. TWU's Courtney Jones was credited with the loss, allowing six earned runs on nine hits in five innings of work.
In the nightcap, senior Katie Jo Goodwin (6-0) remained undefeated on the year as the Stockbridge, Ga., native pitched a complete game, allowing one run on six hits, in GGC's 6-1 win.
The Grizzlies, who have scored 89 of their 208 runs in the first two innings of play in 2017, took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, capitalizing on a Bulldog fielding error. Willhite drove in GGC's first run of the contest with an RBI-single to shallow right-center. A pitch later, second baseman Quentin Staton gave the Grizzlies the three-run lead with a two-run single to shallow right.
Georgia Gwinnett plated three more runs in the bottom of the sixth for the 6-0 lead as third baseman Elyssa Melton recorded an RBI-single and Cook drove in the final two Grizzly runs of the day with a two-run double down the left field line.
Goodwin held the Bulldogs scoreless until the seventh inning when Tennessee Wesleyan scored its lone run of game two on an RBI-single by third baseman Rachel Percy.
A pop out to third by left fielder Livia Walker ended TWU's rally as the Grizzlies picked up the 6-1 win for the series sweep.
With the victory, the Grizzlies are now 3-0 all-time against Tennessee Wesleyan.
Next, Georgia Gwinnett returns to action on Tuesday, March 21 when the Grizzlies host No. 16 Reinhardt (Ga.) in doubleheader action. First pitch of the twin bill is set for 3:00 p.m.
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