ROME, Ga. | Sydney Lancaster and Karlie Gutierrez each hit home runs, propelling Georgia College & State University to a doubleheader sweep over Shorter University in a non-conference softball Tuesday (April 8) afternoon at the Alto Park Softball Complex.
The Bobcats took the opener 6-1, and finished the two-game sweep with a 5-3 victory.
GCSU evened its record at 20-20, while Shorter fell to 10-27. The Bobcats return to Milledgeville, Georgia, for their final home series against Georgia Southwestern State University, with the opener Friday (April 11) night at 6 p.m. at the Bobcat Softball Field.
The Bobcats led the scoring in the opener 1-0 after a sacrifice fly from Lancaster. Yet, neither team scored again until the fifth inning after solid starts from GCSU's Tiffany Caban and Shorter's Rylee Gattis.
However, the Bobcats taxed Gattis for four runs in the fifth. An RBI triple from Kam Caldwell started the rally, followed by Caldwell scoring herself on a wild pitch, and then Lancaster drove in her second RBI on the day via the long ball – her third of the year.
A Caldwell sacrifice fly and Kacie Wiggins hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded drove in two more in the sixth and seventh, while the Hawks scratched across their only run in the opener with an RBI double from Lizzy Mitchell.
Caban (8-4) completed what she started, going the full seven innings while only giving up one run. She permitted six base runners – four hits, one walk, one hit-by-pitch - but struck out 15 in the effort.
The Hawks switched it up in the nightcap, scoring first on an Ashton Stevens RBI single, but the Bobcats bounced back in the fourth and fifth, as Gutierrez led the offense with a game-tying home run – her fourth of the year. Divina Checo followed a two-run single, Lancaster scored Checo with a base-knock of her own, and Hutcheson scored Lancaster with another single–all runs unearned.
Lizzy Mitchell made things slightly closer with a two-run double, but the Bobcat pitching held on.
Shelby Jones (9-10) picked up the win with 5.1 innings of relief, giving up six hits and two runs, while striking out a pair.
The Bobcats had four extra-base hits: the homers from Lancaster and Gutierrez, a triple from Caldwell, and a double from Lancaster.
About GCSU Athletics
Owning the top Academic Success Rate among all public colleges and universities in Division II for four consecutive academic years, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won five consecutive Presidents' Awards for Academic Excellence, and are two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup and four-time winners of the PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in postseason competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports or subscribe to the GSCU Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with GCSU Athletics.
