Strong Pitching Leads Softball To 3 Conference Wins
Same names, different pitchers, combine for a 0.494 ERA on the weekend.
BARNESVILLE, GA -- The Gordon State College softball team started to climb in the GCAA standings this weekend by taking 3 out of 4 games from East Georgia and West Georgia Tech behind solid pitching performances by Maddie Green (Jr) and Maddie Greene (Sr). "Junior" notched 2 more wins giving up just 3 hits, striking out 17 and not allowing a single earned in 14 innings pitched. Although "Senior" took a heartbreaking loss in extra innings to East Georgia, she allowed just 7 hits, striking out 9 and giving up 1 earned run in 14.1 innings pitched this past weekend.
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East Georgia may have struck first on several Highlander defensive miscues in the bottom of the 1st, but the Highlanders would soon settle in and go on to earn the 3-1 victory in Swainsboro. GSC first scored in the top of the 4th when Addy Allegretti led off with a walk, followed by Taylor Dykes reaching on an error. Allegretti was able to advance to third on the play and later scored when Hannah Coulter dropped a single in to shallow center field. The Highlanders would score again in the top of the 6th inning when the 4th inning trio would again manufacture a run on Allegretti's single, Dykes' walk, and Coulter's fly ball to center field that was dropped, allowing pinch runner Brooke Tyson to score. The Highlanders would get the insurance run in the top of the 7th on aggressive base running by pinch runner Katie Reed at 2nd base, drawing a throwing error from East Georgia and allowing Cheyanne Mosteller to score from third. Maddie Green got the win giving up just 1 hit and striking out 4.
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The Highlanders used their momentum from game one to score in top of the first on Cheyanne Mosteller's solo homerun to left field, but couldn't make the necessary offensive adjustments against East Georgia's Abigail Johnson for the remainder of the game as the Highlanders fell 3-1 in 8 innings. East Georgia tied the game on 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th when the Bobcat's speed got the best of the Highlanders. Breanca Davis's infield bunt single scored pinch runner Kayla Lambert from 3rd. With the ITB in effect, the Highlanders had runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs in the top of the 8th but was unable to score a run. In the bottom of the 8th, East Georgia's Emily Lewis's sacrifice bunt moved Jordan Wells to third and then Ashley Wuertley's walk-off homerun to left center field left the Highlanders heartbroken. Maddie Green gave up just 4 hits and had 4 strikeouts in the game.
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The Highlanders finally returned home Sunday after being on the road for nearly 20 games to host West Georgia Technical College, which was a rescheduled GCAA game from last Wednesday. Although the top of the first inning was once again shaky as the Highlanders gave up 2 unearned runs, Gordon State would settle down and go on to secure a 5-2 victory. The Highlanders evened the game up in the bottom of the second inning when Taylor Dykes drove in 2 runs with her towering homerun to left field. The Highlanders would then pull away for good in the third on Addy Allegretti's sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Hannah Rae Griffin. Griffin would score again in the 5th on Allegretti's ground out to second and Dykes would find her third RBI of the game with her bloop single to right field scoring Hunter Lee. Maddie Green was impressive on the mound, striking out 13 while just giving up two hits.
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Not only did Maddie Greene earn her first victory in the circle, she pitched a 3 hit shutout while striking out 5 in the Highlander's 4-0 victory over the Knights. The Highlanders got on the board in the 2nd inning when Montana Schug singled to left field, scoring Addy Allegretti. The Highlanders would strike again in the 4th when Hunter Lee led off the inning with a single and stolen base, followed by Allegretti's triple to left field. McKenzie Barnes then grounded out to second, but it allowed Allegretti to score from third. The Highlanders would notch their final run in the 6th when Katie Reed led off the inning on a single to shallow left field. Lauren Hawkins moved Reed to second on a ground out to first base. Kelly Bostwick then hit a RBI single to left center field, allowing Reed to score from second.
The Highlanders are now 9-12 on the season, 3-3 in GCAA play. They will host Southern Union CC in a non-region double header on Wednesday.