Bulldogs blast four home runs, defeat Virginia Tech, 8-3
Bulldogs blast four home runs, defeat Virginia Tech, 8-3
ATHENS, Ga. – No. 14 seeded Georgia defeated Virginia Tech 8-3 Saturday, knocking four home runs along the way at Jack Turner Stadium in game three of the NCAA Athens Regional.
Georgia improves to 41-13 and has earned a spot in Sunday’s Regional final. The first pitch is set for 12 p.m. against the Hokies. who won the elimination game on Saturday night.
UGA head coach Tony Baldwin was proud of how his team performed against the Hokies.
“Virginia Tech is a really good offensive team. I thought Chelsea [Wilkinson] and Madison [Kerpics] were really on point, a lot of soft contact. Didn't get as many swings and misses as [Kerpics] might normally, but I thought she commanded the ball really well. She made one mistake in five innings of pitching,” Baldwin said. “That's pretty good against a really good offensive team. Shelby [Walters] came in, and I thought that second inning really looked like herself. She commanded the ball very well.”
The offense scattered seven total hits, with five of them going for extra bases in the contest. Seven different hitters combined for the seven hits with Jayda Kearney, Sara Mosley, Sydney Chambley and Jaydyn Goodwin all leaving the yard against the Hokies
Georgia pitcher Madison Kerpics (19-6) worked five innings in her start, allowing two runs on four hits in the game. She also struck out one and walked one. Shelby Walters then pitched two innings out of the pen, surrendering one run on two hits with a strikeout.
Goodwin put the Bulldogs in front in the bottom of the third, sending the first pitch of the inning over the wall in center, 1-0 Georgia. The shot was her sixth home run of the season.
Virginia Tech’s (38-19) Emma Ritter knocked a two-out, two-run home run in the fourth to go ahead 2-1 on Georgia. However, the Bulldogs would respond quickly as they scored four runs in the home half of the inning. With two on and one out, Sydney Kuma drove in pinch runner Hayley Eaton on a double off the wall in right-center to tie the game, 2-2.
During the next at-bat. Chambley blasted her second home run of the NCAA Regional, a three-run shot, to put Georgia back in front 5-2 over Virginia Tech after four innings. The home run tipped the double-digit mark for Chambley on the season at 10.
Next, a two-run moon shot over the bleachers in center off the bat of Kearney lengthened Georgia’s lead to 7-2 in the bottom half of the fifth. Mosley followed with a solo home run of her own, Georgia’s fourth of the game, to bring the Bulldog lead to 8-2.
Virginia Tech got one back in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout, 8-3. However, it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs cruised to victory and stayed undefeated in Regional play.
“Defensively, I thought we were really sharp. I just think that we had a really good week of practice. The girls worked hard. I think some of the time off that we've had over the course of the season, whether it be a rain out here or bye weekend there, gave us an opportunity to go to work and practice hard leading up to the regional,” Baldwin added after Georgia’s win. “I felt really proud of the way the hitters carried that into today.”