The fifth-ranked Georgia Gwinnett softball team received two dominant pitching performances on Tuesday from senior Chelsi Palazzo and sophomore Taylor Hansis as the Grizzlies pulled off the season sweep against Faulkner (Ala.), taking the home half of doubleheader action with 4-0 and 4-3 victories over the Lady Eagles.
With the two wins, the Grizzlies (41-7-1) are just three victories away from tying and four away from breaking their single-season wins record of 44 set during the 2016 season.
"We played really well today against a very good Faulkner pitching staff," said GGC head coach Kat Ihlenburg. "We strung together quality at-bats in multiple innings, and the outcome was putting runs on the board. Aubree [Cox] had a great day for us, coming up just a home run shy of a series cycle. I'm proud of everyone's effort and the preparation we are making for postseason play in the A.I.I. tournament."
Against Faulkner (18-25) in game one, Palazzo carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before surrendering her first of six scattered hits in the scoreless contest. The Woodstock, Ga., native is now 13-2 in 2017 and has struck out 98 batters on the season through 103.1 innings of work.
In the 4-0 victory, catcher Sydney Willhite plated GGC's first run of the contest with an RBI-double in the opening inning of play. An inning later, right fielder RaeQuinn Rossetti pushed the Grizzlies' lead to 3-0 with an RBI-single to shallow right-center field.
GGC scored its final run of the opening contest of Tuesday's doubleheader when first baseman Hailey Burnham lifted a bloop single to center, scoring left fielder Aubree Cox from third. Previously in the third inning, Cox reached on a triple to the left-center gap.
Palazzo received the win, striking out seven Lady Eagles in the complete-game shutout while Faulkner's Caitlin Perry (8-5) suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs on six hits in 2.1 innings of work.
Game two began in the Grizzlies' favor as GGC took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly to deep center by third baseman Elyssa Melton.
The Grizzlies did their offensive damage in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs to increase their gap over Faulkner to 4-0. Shortstop Brashante Dareus made it 2-0 with an RBI-single to center. Later in the inning, center fielder Niki Cook scored on an erred throw by Faulkner's shortstop, making it 3-0 in favor of the Grizzlies. Cox drove in Georgia Gwinnett's final run of the game with an RBI-single to right, scoring the fourth Grizzly run of the contest.
Georgia Gwinnett's 4-3 win in game two came off the heels of a one-hit outing by Hansis. Like Palazzo, Hansis also carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. However, two throwing errors in the inning allowed the Lady Eagles to score three runs, cutting the Grizzly advantage to 4-3.
Hansis worked a scoreless seventh, propelling the Grizzlies to the 4-3 win and their 41st win of the season.
Georgia Gwinnett now hits the road for its next two series against Milligan (Tenn.) on April 15 and Montreat (N.C.) on April 18 but returns to the Grizzly Softball Complex for its regular season finale against Talladega (Ala.) on April 22.
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