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Box Score 2 >>>PURCHASE PHOTO PRINTS
by Alex Cooper, sports information student assistant
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia College softball team (17-3) swept the Delta State University Lady Statesmen (9-6) 3-2 and 8-1 Monday at the Peeler Complex, the Bobcats winning their eighth straight game and recording their sixth doubleheader sweep of the season.
It took extra innings in game one of the day for the Bobcats to knock off the Lady Statesmen after being tied 2-2 at the conclusion of the seventh inning.
Georgia College fell behind early when Delta State scratched across two runs in the top of the third. That would be all the Lady Statesmen would score, as junior Marisa Boyette (Marietta) shut them down for the remainder of the contest.
The Bobcats would come back to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring two runs on three hits. Freshman Holland Coursey (Sugar Hill) got the inning started with a leadoff single. Following a flyout, Taylor Campbell (Warner Robins) would double to right center, plating Holland Coursey. Campbell advanced to third on a passed ball and scored when Lacey Najafi (Suwanee) reached on an error.
The game would go scoreless for the next three innings, forcing Georgia College into its first extra-inning game of the season. Boyette kept Delta State off the board in the top of the eighth, giving the Bobcats a chance for a walk-off in the bottom half.
After junior Kristin Brooks (Brunswick) was placed on second to begin the inning for the international tiebreaker rule, Holland Coursey moved her to third with a sacrifice bunt. The powerful second baseman Abi LeRoy (Dublin) stepped to the plate and caught the Lady Statesmen off guard when she executed a perfect squeeze bunt that scored Brooks for the walk-off victory.
Boyette tossed her 10th complete game of the season in as many starts, allowing just two runs on five hits. She struck out eight Delta State batters.
The second game of the day was less stressful for the Bobcats, cruising to the 8-1 victory. Georgia College notched 10 hits in the win, the sixth double-digit hit effort this season.
The offense took no time heating up, scoring four runs in the first inning. Brooks led off the inning with a walk, then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. That allowed LeRoy to come through with an RBI single, giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. Following a Campbell single, sophomore Faith Flanders (Dublin) stepped to the plate. Flanders deposited the pitch over the left field wall for her first homer of the season and a 4-0 'Cats lead.
Those four runs would be enough, but Georgia College put the dagger in Delta State with another run in the second and three in the sixth. Campbell finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Najafi also had a multi-hit game, notching two hits and a RBI. LeRoy had one just one hit, but scored two runs and drove in two.
Carly Lewis (Seymour, Tennessee) took the circle in game two, allowing just one run in the complete-game effort. She surrendered five hits while striking out four.
The Bobcat pitching staff did a good job shutting down the leading hitter for Delta State, as shortstop Amber Adcock went 0-for-6 on the day after coming into the doubleheader batting .615.
Georgia College will be back in action Thursday, March 5 as they travel to Americus, Ga. to take on the Georgia Southwestern State University Hurricanes in the Bobcats' first Peach Belt Conference (PBC) games of the season. Doubleheader action is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.
