From UGA Sports Info
The fifth-ranked Georgia softball team defeated Georgia Tech 6-3 on Wednesday evening in front of a crowd of 1,312 at Jack Turner Stadium. Fifth-year Sara Mosley highlighted the game, hitting a pair of two-run home runs.
Georgia climbs to 21-3 on the season. The win snapped Georgia Tech’s (18-8) 15-game win streak heading into the rivalry matchup.
Jayda Kearney finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate, also hitting a home run. Lyndi Rae Davis drew three walks out of the leadoff spot. Sophomore Tyler Ellison hit her first-career home run in a pinch-hit opportunity late in the game.
Lilli Backes (8-1) earned the win in her start, working into the seventh inning. She struck out five, allowing three runs on two hits. Backes took a no-hit bid into the fifth inning. Shelby Walters pitched the seventh inning, slamming the door on the Yellow Jackets’ comeback bid.
Georgia wasted no time putting runs on the board, first on a two-run home run from Mosley, followed by a solo shot off the bat of Kearney to go up 3-0 in the first.
Mosley’s second two-run home run of the game lengthened the Dogs’ lead to 5-0 in the home half of the fifth.
Ellison’s first career home run in the sixth extended the lead to 6-0.
Georgia Tech attempted a late-inning comeback in the seventh. After a walk and a hit by pitch, a two-run double broke up Backes’ shutout. Walters entered to pitch with one on, no out. Following a strikeout and a popup, a single plated another Jacket run to cut the lead to 6-3. A flyout to center ended the comeback bid.
The Bulldogs open Southeastern Conference play this weekend at Jack Turner Stadium when the Alabama Crimson Tide comes to town. The three-game series opens Friday evening at 6 p.m. The Dogs and Tide square off at noon, both Saturday and Sunday, live on SEC Network.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On what the team can take from this win into SEC play...
"The fact that we've played a lot of tough games. We played really good competition. We played a lot of ranked teams, and they aren't always easy. It's not always going to go the way you script it and how you want it, and it's not in a neat and tidy package. And I think we've learned that we can play in that environmen, and that's what we'll take into this weekend against another really good opponent. If we just continue to follow our blueprint for success, the things that we deem really important in terms of how you win softball games, and we keep trying to execute in those areas, then the outcomes will take care of themselves."
On the depth of this team...
"We have a lot of people that can contribute, and I think that gives us an opportunity to arrange our lineup for matchups. It gives us the opportunity to alive the pressure off some of the players. Naturally, teams and players go through waves, and with the depth that we have, we're able to minimize the depth of some of those waves. We don't have to leave anybody out there to struggle so we can just keep running good players out there. And if we can keep doing that, that keeps everybody fresh mentally, physically, emotionally, and that gives us the best chance to be successful."
#33 Sara Mosley | Fifth Year | INF
On how the strong start impacted the team’s confidence…
“Just believing in ourselves and trusting our process, and the strong start is what we want. It’s always what we want. We always love beating a good rival, and so having a good competition and having that strong beginning just lets our confidence bloom.”
On her mindset, hitting her second home run with a 3-2 count…
“I’m just staying true to my zone and really just feeling the pitch. I don’t really think when I’m in the box. I just see a pitch and hit it. 3-2 count, I hit one foul, and then she threw it in the zone, and I was going to hit it.”
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