Georgia Gwinnett's fifth-ranked softball team picked up its second sweep of a fellow Association of Independent Institutions member on Saturday as the Grizzlies defeated Talladega (Ala.) 9-5 and 12-0 in doubleheader action.
With Saturday's wins, the Grizzlies (38-6-1) are now 5-0 versus A.I.I. members this season as they have also defeated Kentucky Christian in all three meetings in 2017.
"The team had a great outing against Talladega today," said GGC head coach Kat Ihlenburg. "Several Grizzlies contributed to today's victories, and I'm proud of everyone's effort. Our defense turned two amazing double plays today including a 1-5-3 and 3-6-3 combination. This was a great highlight of our sound defensive fundamentals and the focus the women are putting into each pitch and play."
In game one, the Grizzlies powered out to a 9-0 lead, scattering two runs in the first, four in the third, and three in the fourth. First baseman Hailey Burnham started GGC's scoring barrage with a two-run double in the first. Notably, the Grizzlies have scored 56 of their 315 runs during the 2017 season in the first inning of play.
Two innings later, left fielder Aubree Cox boosted the Grizzly lead to 4-0 with a two-run single to right field. Talladega's Darien Brown bobbled the hit when retrieving, allowing Burnham to score as well for the 5-0 Grizzly advantage. Talladega committed another error later in the inning on a wild throw on a back-pick by catcher Chyloe Gonzalez, scoring Cox from third to make it 6-0 in GGC's favor.
In the fourth, shortstop Brashante Dareus launched her ninth home run of the season over the center field fence. The three-run shot plated GGC's final three runs of game one, carrying the lead to 9-0.
Facing a potential run-rule loss in the bottom of fifth, the Tornadoes rallied for five runs, forcing two more innings of play. Talladega closed the gap to 9-5 with RBI-singles by Gonzalez and Jamara Thomas and bases-loaded walks to Janisha Thomas, Bradrecia Lane, and Brianna Huff.
Senior Chelsi Palazzo extinguished the Tornadoes' rally, providing three innings of relief as the Grizzlies held on for the 9-5 victory. GGC sophomore Taylor Hansis (15-4) received the win while TC's Maya Canul suffered the loss.
Game two took just five innings of play for the Grizzlies to pull out the 12-0 run-rule victory. Senior Katie Jo Goodwin (11-0) continued her unbeaten streak, pitching a complete-game shutout in the win. Goodwin scattered six hits over five innings of work while striking out three Talladega batters.
The Grizzlies surged out to a 9-0 lead after the first two innings of action and later added three more runs in the fourth to push their gap to 12-0.
In game two, Dareus, Palazzo, and second baseman Nikki Miller carried the Grizzlies on offense, combining for a 5-for-7 performance at the plate including seven RBIs and three runs scored.
The Grizzlies have a quick turnaround as they host doubleheader action against Bethel (Tenn.) at the Grizzly Softball Complex on Sunday starting at 1:00 p.m. Both games will broadcasted live on the Grizzly Digital Network with pregame coverage beginning at 12:45 p.m.
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