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Box Score 2 >>>PURCHASE PHOTO PRINTS
by Alex Cooper, sports information student assistant
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia College softball team (34-4, 11-1 PBC) won its 12th and 13th straight games Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of Peach Belt Conference (PBC) member UNC Pembroke (18-17, 2-12 PBC), 3-2 and 11-5 on a day where the Bobcat family celebrated the men and women of the United States Military.
Before the games began, a touching service was held on the field for the brave members of our armed forces. Members of the Baldwin High Junior ROTC presented the colors, as Retired Navy member Shawn Humphries—father of Bobcat senior Kristen—served as emcee.
The first of the two games was a pitching duel, with five total runs scored and just three earned runs allowed. Junior Marisa Boyette (Marietta) won the battle with counterpart Katie Saunders, going all seven innings in the victory. The Bobcat righty (18-1) surrendered just one earned run on eight hits, striking out three Braves.
The offense for the Bobcats was hard to come by, scoring just a run a piece in three separate innings. Georgia College was on the board early, plating a run in the first on a bizarre play that saw Taylor Campbell (Warner Robins) walk and then get in a rundown between second and third, allowing Kristen Brooks (Brunswick) to scamper home for the 1-0 lead.
The Bobcat lead would become 2-0 in the second inning when freshman Holland Coursey (Sugar Hill) came through with a run-scoring single to score Lacey Najafi (Suwanee).
UNC Pembroke would not lie down though, as they scored runs of their own in the third and fourth innings to knot the game at two headed to the bottom of the fourth.
After a groundout to begin the inning, Holland Coursey singled, bringing Brooks to the plate. Brooks would deliver the game-winning hit, a triple to right-center field. Holland Coursey would finish 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI.
Game two of the doubleheader was just the opposite of the first, with both teams heating up the bats. Georgia College scored 11 runs on 11 hits, including three home runs. The 'Cats did all their damage early, scoring one in the first, six in the second and four in the third.
All 11 of the Bobcat hits came from five players, all notching multi-hit efforts. Danielle Bernstein (Cumming) led the way with a 3-for-4 game with two runs scored and three RBI. The sophomore recorded the first home run of her career, an inside-the-park round-tripper in the third inning, past a diving centerfielder.
Campbell had the most RBI for the Bobcats in game two, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and four batted in. All four RBI came on her fifth home run of the season, a grand slam in the second.
The other home run in the game for Georgia College came off the bat of Hannah Coursey (Sugar Hill) to dead center in the third inning. The freshman's solo shot was her fifth of the campaign.
Junior Abi LeRoy (Dublin) and freshman Emily Robertson (Dacula) also notched two-hit games. LeRoy added a run scored and RBI, while Robertson scored once and drove home two.
Sophomore Carly Lewis (Seymour, Tennessee) was not her usual self in the circle in game two, but still did enough to earn her 14th victory (14-3). She allowed five runs on 10 hits in the complete-game effort. Lewis struck out four and walked three.
Head coach Jamie Grodecki is now just two wins away from 200 victories in her college coaching career.
The Bobcats are back in action Friday, April 3 when they hit the road for a PBC twinbill with the University of Montevallo Falcons, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. eastern.
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.
