April 5, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. – No. 15/17 Georgia comes back to claim the series over South Carolina with a 9-1 win in five in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Jack Turner Stadium.
Tina Iosefa led the Bulldogs (33-6, 8-4 SEC) with her 2-for-3 day, hitting a homer and driving in Georgia’s first four runs. Bethany Beggs and Samantha LaZear both went 2-for-3, with LaZear scoring twice and stealing a base while also driving in a run. Kaylee Puailoa also drove in two in a 1-for-2 game.
Georgia used a two-out rally to score in the first. A pitch hit Puailoa with two outs, and Geri Ann Glasco followed by drawing a walk. Iosefa lined the 1-0 pitch off of the Gamecock second baseman’s glove for a single, scoring Puailoa to give Georgia the 1-0 lead. Iosefa made it 4-0 Bulldogs with a three-run homer to right center in the third, scoring two pinch runners after Puailoa hit an infield single and Glasco drew a four-pitch walk.
The Bulldogs added two more in the fourth on Alex Hugo’s RBI double, scoring LaZear after she started the inning with a bunt single. Hugo moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Puailoa’s groundout to second.
South Carolina (25-14, 6-9 SEC) broke through with a run in the fifth on freshman pitcher Nickie Blue’s first collegiate hit. With two down, she chopped one over the third baseman’s head, scoring senior pinch runner Brooke Barnhill from second. She ran for junior catcher Olivia Lawrence and took second on a wild pitch.
But Georgia would end things in the bottom of the fifth. LaZear drove in one with a single that headed up the middle but the Gamecock second baseman kept on the infield to limit the scoring to one on the play. After a walk loaded the bases again, Page Wilson hit one toward the right side the Gamecock infield gloved, but the throw home did not get the runner, making it 8-1. Puailoa walked to force in the ninth run, ending the game there.
Georgia’s Chelsea Wilkinson (20-4) tossed a one-hitter, giving up one earned run on three walks while fanning four in the complete-game win. Gamecock Julie Sarratt (11-9) took the loss, giving up six earned runs on seven hits and two walks in three-plus innings.
South Carolina returns home to host Campbell in a Tuesday evening contest set for 6 p.m. at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
