A pair of fifth-year seniors who were members of the last Georgia Gwinnett College softball team to play in the NAIA World Series played pivotal roles in sending the Grizzlies back to the national championship tournament with a thrilling 6-5 extra-inning victory over College of Coastal Georgia on Wednesday afternoon at the Grizzly Softball Complex.
The Grizzlies (43-10; ranked No. 8 nationally) rallied from an early two-run deficit to take a two-run advantage, with two outs and two strikes, in the bottom of the seventh inning. That's when Coastal Georgia came back to score the tying run that put the game into extra innings.
Then GGC received a two-out RBI single in the top of the 11th inning to punch its ticket to the NAIA World Series for the third time in program history. This year's national tournament will be played in Columbus, Georgia, starting on May 25.
A sharp-hit single into left field by senior
Lea McFadden scored sophomore
Lindzie Owen with the winning run. Owen set up the go-ahead score after smashing a two-out triple.
"I'm so excited to be able to play in the World Series," said McFadden, who was a freshman during the Grizzlies' 2019 World Series appearance. "I had left some runners on base in previous at-bats. My main focus in that situation was to stay within myself. Coastal Georgia is a great competitor and we've had great games with them."
GGC Head Coach
Kat Ihlenburg stated, "Lea was ready for that exact moment. She knew what was needed from that at-bat. She got the best pitch she could get in that situation and it may have been the best hit of her career."
The Grizzlies, the No. 1 seed and host of the Lawrenceville Bracket of the NAIA Opening Round, kept the No. 2-seeded Mariners off the scoreboard in the 10th inning behind a clutch defensive play featuring two of the team's veteran players.
With the bases loaded and one out, Coastal Georgia's Aniston Johnson hit a fly ball to shallow center field. GGC junior
Kloey Goins made the catch and then kept baserunner Melani Jones from scoring from third base by throwing to senior catcher
Sydney Pelaez. The tag play for the third out in the inning sent the game into the 11th frame.
"I saw the pop fly and knew it would be shallow. I was feeling good that we were going to get the out," said Pelaez in recalling the dramatic play. "I was confident that Kloey would be able to throw the runner out (at home plate) and get the double play. I just needed to catch the ball because (the runner) was going right into the tag."
GGC scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Junior
Logan Oller gave the hosts a 3-2 lead with a two-run single to left-center field. The base hit allowed Goins and freshman
Madison Rodgers to score. The Grizzlies' initial run came from Goins' run-scoring single to center field.
Junior
Josie Haulk added a two-run single to center field and two unearned runs gave the team the three-run lead in the sixth inning.
However, Coastal Georgia (42-12) responded with a solo home run by Bryce Peacock in the bottom of the sixth frame, while a misplayed ground ball by the Grizzlies led to the two game-tying runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Peacock scattered seven hits across 5.1 innings after starting the game inside the pitching circle for the Mariners. She did not factor in the decision.
The game then featured a pitchers' duel between GGC sophomore
Annalise Wood and Coastal Georgia's Hayley Dickerson. The two right handers matched each other with scoreless frames in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings – getting out of several threatening situations – before McFadden's decisive two-out RBI single.
Wood went all 11 innings for the Grizzlies, striking out eight batters and allowing three earned runs. The sophomore improved to 23-2 on the season.
Owen led the Grizzlies' offensive attack by going 4-for-6 and scoring a pair of runs. McFadden and Haulk each tallied two hits while Oller went 2-for-4 and had two RBI in the victory.
GGC made consecutive World Series appearances in 2018 and 2019, advancing to the semifinal round in that last trip.
"I'm so happy that our seniors are getting to go to the World Series, for all that they've done for our program. Lea had the huge go-ahead hit. We felt the momentum and energy after Kloey's play in the 10th inning. That play was a huge energy swing in the game. It took all 22 players inside the dugout this season for us to get to this point (NAIA World Series)," said Head Coach
Kat Ihlenburg.
The Grizzlies made two key extra-inning plays to pick up the NAIA Opening Round championship round victory against Coastal Georgia. With the bases loaded and one out, junior
Kloey Goins caught a shallow fly ball in center field and then threw to home plate to get out baserunner Melani Jones to end the bottom of the 10th inning. Then, senior
Lea McFadden lined an RBI single to left field that brought home the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning.
Bottom of Second
Aniston Johnson lined a two-run double to right-center field that gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead
Top of Sixth
Kloey Goins hit a run-scoring single to center field that scored
Lindzie Owen
Logan Oller gave the Grizzlies a 3-2 lead with a two-run single to left-center field
Josie Haulk added a two-run single to center field
Bottom of Sixth
Bryce Peacock hit a solo home run to right field
Bottom of Seventh
Bryce Peacock reached on a fielding error that allowed two runs to score and tie the contest, 5-5
Bottom of 10th
Kloey Goins caught a fly ball in center field and threw out the potential game-winning run at the plate for a double play that ended the frame
Top of 11th
Lea McFadden lined an RBI single to left field that scored
Lindzie Owen for the eventual game-winning run
- The Grizzlies outhit Coastal Georgia by a 13-10 margin
- Sophomore Lindzie Owen went 4-for-6 and scored twice in Wednesday's victory
- Sophomore pitcher Annalise Wood struck out eight batters across the 11 innings
- GGC successfully stole three bases in the contest
- GGC improves to 43-10 on the season, while Coastal Georgia ended the season with a 42-12 record
- The Grizzlies were ranked No. 8 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll; Coastal Georgia stood No. 18 in the same poll
- GGC was the No. 1 seed in the NAIA Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket; Coastal Georgia stood as the No. 2 seed
- The Grizzlies defeated all three teams in the tournament field to win the Lawrenceville Bracket with a 3-0 record
- Georgia Gwinnett College has advanced to the NAIA World Series three times in program history (2023, 2019 and 2018)
Georgia Gwinnett College advances to play in the 2023 NAIA World Series in Columbus, Georgia, beginning on May 25.
