The Georgia Gwinnett College softball team dropped a pair of games Sunday to conclude the weekend's Grizzly Open with a 3-3 record, first falling 6-0 to No. 22 University of the Cumberlands (Kentucky) and then 4-1 to Reinhardt University at the Grizzly Softball Complex.

GGC could not overcome early deficits in both contests. Cumberlands (2-1) scored a pair of runs in the second inning, while Reinhardt (4-4) jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead.

Katie Cheeseman hit a run-scoring single to give the nationally ranked Patriots the 2-0 lead in the second inning. The score would remain the same until the visitors pushed two more runs across in the sixth inning and another two runs in the seventh inning.

Emily Jasper led the Patriots by going 2-for-3 and scoring a run. Emily Bryant also had two hits in the victory. Maddie Sickau and Meryn Livingston added RBI singles.

In the second game, Reinhardt's Lauren Parker gave the visitors a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the opening frame. The Eagles pushed across another run in the fourth inning before GGC tallied its first run of the day as senior Brooke Parker had an RBI double to close the gap to 3-1. That's as close as the hosts would get as Reinhardt's Emily Loveless hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to push the margin to the game's final 4-1 score.

Freshman Jane Hoover tallied two of the team's four hits in the contest.


  Trailing 2-0, the Grizzlies had several scoring chances against Cumberlands but Morgan Radford made key pitches to keep the opposition off the scoreboard. A sacrifice fly and two GGC defensive errors in the sixth inning pushed the lead to 4-0 – a deficit too much to overcome.
  Cumberlands Game
Top of Third
Emily Jasper successfully stole home on the back end of a double steal
Katie Cheeseman hit an RBI single to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead
 
Top of Seventh
Maddie Sickau singled to right center field to bring home Katie Cheeseman
Meryn Livingston added an RBI single to give the visitors a 6-0 advantage
 
Reinhardt Game
Top of First
Lauren Parker gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead with a two-run single
 
Top of Fourth
Alexis Teems hit an RBI double down the left field line to score Alexis Evans
 
Bottom of Fourth
Brooke Parker put the Grizzlies on the scoreboard with a run-scoring double to right field
 
Top of Sixth
Emily Loveless hit a sacrifice fly to stretch Reinhardt's lead to 4-1
 

• The Grizzlies combined for eight hits across the two games on Sunday
• Freshman Jane Hoover recorded two hits in the Reinhardt contest
• GGC committed nine defensive errors, allowing a combined five unearned runs

• GGC stands 3-3 on the season; Cumberlands is 2-1; and Reinhardt stands 4-4
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 11 in the 2022 NAIA Top 25 preseason poll; Cumberlands stood No. 22 in the same poll; Reinhardt received votes before beginning the season
• Four of GGC's six games in the Grizzly Open were played against nationally ranked competition

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host LSU Alexandria in a doubleheader on Friday, February 18, from the Grizzly Softball Complex, starting at noon.