The No. 10-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College softball team asserted its standing among the NAIA's top units with an emphatic doubleheader shutout sweep, 2-0 and 5-0, against No. 4 Lindsey Wilson College (Kentucky) on Friday afternoon at the Grizzly Softball Complex. The games closed out the 2021 regular season.

Strong pitching, timely hitting, opportunistic baserunning, and stingy defense were the recipe for success as the Grizzlies (28-10) won both games.

In the first outing, GGC scored both of its runs in the fourth inning without the ball leaving the infield.

Freshman Kloey Goins opened the frame with a walk before a sacrifice bunt by junior Piper Wagner induced a throwing error from LWC pitcher Annabelle Ramirez. That put both GGC runners in scoring position. Two passed balls would allow Goins and Wagner to score from third base for a 2-0 lead.

Sophomore pitcher Alexa Good made that margin stand up as the right hander allowed just two hits and struck out eight batters in the shutout victory, her ninth of the spring season. She completed the regular season with a 18-2 record, 1.35 earned run average and 168 strikeouts in 139.2 innings.

The hosts grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second game on a RBI double from sophomore Sydney Pelaez in the first inning. They then broke the game open behind a three-run third inning. Wagner connected on a two-run home run before junior Camryn Currie added a run-scoring double for a 4-0 lead.

The Grizzlies pushed across another run in the fifth inning following a wild pitch.

Wagner scattered seven hits in getting the pitching shutout to improve to 3-2 for the season. Lindsey Wilson (35-7) had runners at second and third base with no outs in the sixth inning before three consecutive ground ball outs kept the Blue Raiders off the scoreboard.

GGC's defense had just one error across 14 action-packed innings against an opponent that came into the outing with one of the nation's most productive offenses.


 
"We had a good game plan and executed today against a quality opponent. Two of the best pitchers in the country went head-to-head in the first game and it came down to which team executed better. I thought we did well in all situations. Then our offense came out aggressive in the second game," said Head Coach Kat Ihlenburg.
 
The Grizzlies made the most out of their fourth inning scoring situations in the opener. A leadoff walk to freshman Kloey Goins and a defensive error on a bunt from junior Piper Wagner put the baserunners in scoring position. Then, a pair of passed balls allowed Goins and Wagner to score from third base for the only runs of the contest.
 
First Game
Bottom of Fourth
Kloey Goins scored on a passed ball to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 advantage
Piper Wagner followed by also scoring following a passed ball
 
Second Game
Bottom of First
Sydney Pelaez gave the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead with a RBI double
 
Bottom of Third
Piper Wagner connected on a two-run home run
Camryn Currie lined a run-scoring double to bring home Sydney Pelaez from first base
 

• Nine of the Grizzlies' 11 hits across the doubleheader came in the second game
• Sophomore Lea McFadden went 3-for-4 and scored twice in the second contest
• Junior Holly Janco recorded eight assists at shortstop during the second game

• GGC improves to 28-10 on the season; Lindsey Wilson drops to 35-7 this spring
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 8 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll; Lindsey Wilson stood No. 4 in the same poll
• GGC posted a 19-3 record at the Grizzly Softball Complex during the regular season

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host the Association of Independent Institutions Softball Championship Tournament on May 6-8 at the Grizzly Softball Complex.