UGA Women’s Softball: Bulldogs Defeat Georgia State, 7-2
ATHENS, Ga. – The 19th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Georgia State Panthers Wednesday evening, 7-2, at Jack Turner Stadium.
The Bulldogs improve to 18-5 on the season heading into Southeastern Conference play set to begin this weekend in Athens against No. 18 Auburn.
Georgia’s offense scored seven runs on 10 hits led by a three-hit night from sophomore Lyndi Rae Davis. Sara Mosley and Jaydyn Goodwin each picked up two hits in the contest. Mosley and Goodwin joined Ally Kurland in knocking home runs Wednesday.
In the circle, junior Madison Kerpics was perfect in her three-inning start. Destin Howard (2-0) earned the victory in relief, working two innings. Kylie Macy and Riley Orcutt each pitched scoreless innings out of the pen.
Mosley wasted no time putting the Dogs in front with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, 2-0. Later in the inning with runners in scoring position, a misplayed ball to short off the bat of Marisa Miller extended the inning and allowed both runs to score, lengthening the first inning lead to 4-0.
Back-to-back two-out doubles by Davis and Sydney Kuma widened the lead to 5-0 in the third.
Georgia State (8-13) broke up the shutout by scratching across two runs in the top of the fourth inning, cutting the lead to 5-2.
Back-to-back solo home runs from Kurland and Goodwin, the first of her career, brought the lead back to five, 7-2, in the sixth.
Orcutt pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to secure the Bulldog win.
Georgia opens SEC play at home this weekend when Auburn travels to Athens for a three-game series. The Bulldogs and Tigers begin SEC play Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the team’s performance…
“I thought we were really sharp. It started in pregame and then Madison [Kerpics] got us off to a really good start attacking the strike zone and just doing what Madi does. So that was great, Sara [Mosley], I thought she’s put together some good practices and feel like she’s on the verge of getting on a roll and so it was good to see her do her thing tonight. Ally [Kurland] coming in hitting a home run, Jaydyn [Goodwin] getting her first home run and then I thought Lyndi Rae [Davis] had a great night. I would have liked to have seen us string together a few more quality at bats, but the ones that we did put together were pretty effective.”
On the upcoming three-game series against Auburn…
“I’m excited to just kick off SEC play. We’ve played a tough preseason schedule with the idea of preparing ourselves for these tough weekends and now they’re here. We’re ready to go fight together and see what we can do with Auburn. They’ve got a really good team with a couple really good pitchers. We’re going to have to put together some quality at-bats as well as really take care of the other side of the ball on pitching and defense to give our offense a chance to take over the game.”