The top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College softball team earned a 7-2 victory over Crowley's Ridge College (Arkansas) to open play Thursday afternoon in the Association of Independent Institutions 2021 Softball Championship, being played at the Grizzly Softball Complex.

The Grizzlies (29-10) is scheduled to face No. 2 seed Cottey College (Missouri) in a winner's bracket contest on Friday, May 7, at noon. Cottey defeated No. 3 seeded Edward Waters College (Florida) 2-0 in the other first-round contest of the double-elimination tournament.

GGC scored four runs in the second inning and extended its lead to 7-0 by the fourth inning.

Freshman Jenna Gabrielli gave the tournament hosts a 2-0 lead with an RBI single in the second inning. She later scored from third base followed a failed pickoff attempt.

Junior Piper Wagner led off the fourth inning with a home run over the left field fence to extend the team's advantage to 7-0.

Sophomore pitcher Alexa Good made that advantage stand up as the right hander recorded a school-record tying 14 strikeouts in the complete-game victory. Her 14 strikeouts matched a mark she achieved two times earlier this spring.

The Grizzlies outhit Crowley's Ridge by a 12-3 margin, with junior Camryn Currie, sophomore Lea McFadden and Gabrielli each recording two hits. Currie scored a pair of runs and Gabrielli drove in two runs.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: @GGCAthletics defeats @CRCPioneers 7-2 in the first game of the 2021 A.I.I. Softball Championship. Video is provided by the Grizzly Digital Network. pic.twitter.com/wFPmNiurNG

— A.I.I. Sports (@AII_Sports) May 6, 2021

 
The Grizzlies used a four-run second inning to strike first in first-round contest. A sacrifice bunt from freshman Josie Haulk brought junior Camryn Currie home from third base for the first run. Freshman Jenna Gabrielli added an RBI single before a pair of Crowley's Ridge defensive errors allowed two additional runs to score. That gave GGC an early 4-0 lead.
 
Bottom of Second
Josie Haulk laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Camryn Currie for a 1-0 lead
Jenna Gabrielli added an RBI single and later scored off a fielding error
 
Bottom of Third
Brooke Parker hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Holly Janco
Jenna Gabrielli lined an RBI triple to left field to extend GGC's lead to 6-0
 
Bottom of Fourth
Piper Wagner led off the inning with a home run to left field
 

• The Grizzlies outhit Crowley's Ridge by a 12-3 margin
• Sophomore Alexa Good recorded 14 strikeouts, which tied a mark she achieved two previous times this spring
• GGC tallied four extra-base hits: two doubles, one triple and one home run
• Junior Camryn Currie, sophomore Lea McFadden and freshman Jenna Gabrielli each collected two hits for the Grizzlies

• GGC improves to 29-10 for the season; Crowley's Ridge falls to 21-18
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 8 in the final regular-season NAIA Top 25 poll
• GGC is the No. 1 seed in the A.I.I. 2021 Softball Championship; Crowley's Ridge stood as the No. 4 seed in the double-elimination tournament
• Both meetings in the series between the two colleges have come at the A.I.I. tournament, both wins by GGC

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to face No. 2 seed Cottey College (Missouri) in a winner's bracket contest of the Association of Independent Institutions Softball Championship Tournament on Friday, May 7, at noon from the Grizzly Softball Complex. The winner advances to the championship round on Saturday, May 8.