University of Georgia Athletics
Friday, May 18
Athens, Ga.
2:30 PM
University of Georgia
44-11
6
vs
2
Harvard
23-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Harvard
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
4
1
Georgia
3
0
1
0
2
0
0
6
9
1
Photo by: Steven Colquitt
#7 Georgia Defeats Crimson to Open Regional Play, 6-2
May 18, 2018 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. – The seventh-ranked Georgia softball team (44-11) opened NCAA Athens Regional play Friday with a 6-2 victory over the Harvard Crimson (23-17) at Jack Turner Stadium.
Saturday's scheduled games have been moved up. Georgia will face Northwestern at noon. Harvard and California will square off in the first elimination game scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. The second elimination game of the day will begin at 5 p.m.
Mary Wilson Avant (10-3) worked five innings in her start in the circle. She allowed two unearned runs and tied a season high with eight strikeouts. Lauren Mathis closed the game with two scoreless innings.
The Bulldogs outhit the Crimson, 9-4, in Friday's contest. Cortni Emanuel and Alysen Febrey each had two hits for Georgia.
Mahlena O'Neal laid down three successful sacrifice bunts in the game. It's the first time a Georgia player has done so since Kaylee Puaiola did it against Boston College on Mar. 8, 2016.
Emanuelled off the bottom of the first with a bunt for a hit. She stole second and took third on an errant throw down by the catcher. She was safe on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Ciara Bryan. Justice Milzadded to the first-inning lead with a home run, her 13thof the season, to centerfield. A walk to Alyssa DiCarloand a double by Febreyput runners on second and third. O'Neallaid down a successful squeeze bunt to score DiCarlo and widen the lead to 3-0 in the first.
In the bottom of the second, the game was sent into a two hour and 31-minute weather delay.
Harvard's Erin Lockhart capitalized on a two-out error in the bottom of the third with a triple to the wall in right center to drive in two unearned runs and put the Crimson on the board, 3-2.
Georgia added a run in the bottom of the inning when Febrey stole home, her fourth stolen base of the season, 4-2 Georgia.
RBI doubles by Jordan Doggett and Emanuel in the bottom of the fifth lengthening the Bulldog lead to 6-2.
Mathis silenced the Crimson offense to wrap up the game in the sixth and seventh innings.
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
Harvard Head Coach Jenny Allard
Opening statements…
"It was a long game – I think Georgia did a great job; they came out in the first, obviously ready to go. They stuck to their game plan, and we didn't respond quick enough. After the rain delay, we regrouped a little bit and come out stronger in the second half."
On using the rain delay to come back strong in the remaining innings…
"I think – correct me if I'm wrong – they played some competitive Pictionary, played some cards, relaxed a little bit, refueled; we just talked about coming back and battling hard, the game plan we had at the plate. We reinforced that and worked with Katie [Duncan] about some of the positioning of her pitches, where the ball needed to be, how she was feeling. It just gave us some downtime to regroup."
On takeaways from today's game moving into Saturday's competition…
"I think the junior class has stepped up this season as leaders on the field. Going forward, we need to be ready from the first pitch. We need to get ourselves ready with our game plan, and we need to execute from the first pitch. To me, the University of Georgia is the quickest team to get to home that we've played this year. They get on, and they're home before you know it. Heading into tomorrow, I think what we just need to do is build up a little more confidence that we'll be ready to go to match the speed of the game. The other thing we need to do is to continue to play our game. We had a good approach, we had some good opportunities. You're going to have to play really, really sharp. Your margin for error is very, very small, so if you're making some mistakes, teams like Georgia, Cal or Northwestern, they're going to jump all over it, and they did that today."
Junior 3B #20 Erin Lockhart
On her approach at the plate…
"I was just going out there trying to match the speed of the pitch. I saw the first two changeups, but I knew if I waited, I would get a good pitch to hit, and so I was looking to get the ball to the outfield and hopefully score a run."
Junior P #16 Katie Duncan
On the game plan for the Georgia offense…
"I think the game plan going in was basically throw the curve ball off to lefties, and then some changeups. We had talked a lot about making sure my changeup would be good for this game. It's something I've been working on all season."
On adjustments made by the pitching staff throughout the game…
"I think the adjustments we made were making sure we hit the spots a little bit better, and then getting the changeup to be better throughout the game; those are some of the things we talked about. There were mechanical things to work out."
Georgia Head Coach Lu Harris-Champer
Opening statements…
"I think it was a great game and I'm so proud of the girls for coming out the way that they came out and played after the rain delay. We did a great job slapping the ball and stealing to third base. We hit some great ground balls today which is something we've talked about. We just really played well across the board tonight. We did a good job early putting runs on the board and changing momentum."
On getting runs when they can…
"I think it's one of our strengths, we have the ability to find different ways to score runs. Justice [Miz] had a really great at bats tonight, Cortni [Emanuel] swung away later in the game and we're just very proud of the way we're able to change the way we've played."
Final thoughts…
"I would like to add that Harvard played a great game. They came out after the rain delay with an excellent game plan and really swung the bat well."
Senior LF #1 Cortni Emauel
On her ranging power at the plate...
"I think it's really important to be able to change your at bats. It's important to have short balls and long balls. I've been successful reading defenses and really just taking the opportunities that are given to me."
On the rain delay…
"I think we did a pretty good job of maintaining our minds locked into the game. We've been practicing all week and have had to deal with the rain so we've gotten used to the constant starting and stopping. You can't ever really prepare for rain but we got used to the constant change of pace, and I think it really traveled over to the game."
On what they did during the rain delay…
"We ate pizza!" Coach Harris-Champer interjected to add, "I thought it came a little too close to game time, but it was still good."
Sophomore CF #4 Ciara Bryan
On the recent lineup shift to the two-hole…
"I remember coach said to keep it on the ground in order to protect Cortni. I always think to myself 'keep it hard up the middle' because that's how I know I can give her the opportunity to score."
Saturday's scheduled games have been moved up. Georgia will face Northwestern at noon. Harvard and California will square off in the first elimination game scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. The second elimination game of the day will begin at 5 p.m.
Mary Wilson Avant (10-3) worked five innings in her start in the circle. She allowed two unearned runs and tied a season high with eight strikeouts. Lauren Mathis closed the game with two scoreless innings.
The Bulldogs outhit the Crimson, 9-4, in Friday's contest. Cortni Emanuel and Alysen Febrey each had two hits for Georgia.
Mahlena O'Neal laid down three successful sacrifice bunts in the game. It's the first time a Georgia player has done so since Kaylee Puaiola did it against Boston College on Mar. 8, 2016.
Emanuelled off the bottom of the first with a bunt for a hit. She stole second and took third on an errant throw down by the catcher. She was safe on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Ciara Bryan. Justice Milzadded to the first-inning lead with a home run, her 13thof the season, to centerfield. A walk to Alyssa DiCarloand a double by Febreyput runners on second and third. O'Neallaid down a successful squeeze bunt to score DiCarlo and widen the lead to 3-0 in the first.
In the bottom of the second, the game was sent into a two hour and 31-minute weather delay.
Harvard's Erin Lockhart capitalized on a two-out error in the bottom of the third with a triple to the wall in right center to drive in two unearned runs and put the Crimson on the board, 3-2.
Georgia added a run in the bottom of the inning when Febrey stole home, her fourth stolen base of the season, 4-2 Georgia.
RBI doubles by Jordan Doggett and Emanuel in the bottom of the fifth lengthening the Bulldog lead to 6-2.
Mathis silenced the Crimson offense to wrap up the game in the sixth and seventh innings.
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
Harvard Head Coach Jenny Allard
Opening statements…
"It was a long game – I think Georgia did a great job; they came out in the first, obviously ready to go. They stuck to their game plan, and we didn't respond quick enough. After the rain delay, we regrouped a little bit and come out stronger in the second half."
On using the rain delay to come back strong in the remaining innings…
"I think – correct me if I'm wrong – they played some competitive Pictionary, played some cards, relaxed a little bit, refueled; we just talked about coming back and battling hard, the game plan we had at the plate. We reinforced that and worked with Katie [Duncan] about some of the positioning of her pitches, where the ball needed to be, how she was feeling. It just gave us some downtime to regroup."
On takeaways from today's game moving into Saturday's competition…
"I think the junior class has stepped up this season as leaders on the field. Going forward, we need to be ready from the first pitch. We need to get ourselves ready with our game plan, and we need to execute from the first pitch. To me, the University of Georgia is the quickest team to get to home that we've played this year. They get on, and they're home before you know it. Heading into tomorrow, I think what we just need to do is build up a little more confidence that we'll be ready to go to match the speed of the game. The other thing we need to do is to continue to play our game. We had a good approach, we had some good opportunities. You're going to have to play really, really sharp. Your margin for error is very, very small, so if you're making some mistakes, teams like Georgia, Cal or Northwestern, they're going to jump all over it, and they did that today."
Junior 3B #20 Erin Lockhart
On her approach at the plate…
"I was just going out there trying to match the speed of the pitch. I saw the first two changeups, but I knew if I waited, I would get a good pitch to hit, and so I was looking to get the ball to the outfield and hopefully score a run."
Junior P #16 Katie Duncan
On the game plan for the Georgia offense…
"I think the game plan going in was basically throw the curve ball off to lefties, and then some changeups. We had talked a lot about making sure my changeup would be good for this game. It's something I've been working on all season."
On adjustments made by the pitching staff throughout the game…
"I think the adjustments we made were making sure we hit the spots a little bit better, and then getting the changeup to be better throughout the game; those are some of the things we talked about. There were mechanical things to work out."
Georgia Head Coach Lu Harris-Champer
Opening statements…
"I think it was a great game and I'm so proud of the girls for coming out the way that they came out and played after the rain delay. We did a great job slapping the ball and stealing to third base. We hit some great ground balls today which is something we've talked about. We just really played well across the board tonight. We did a good job early putting runs on the board and changing momentum."
On getting runs when they can…
"I think it's one of our strengths, we have the ability to find different ways to score runs. Justice [Miz] had a really great at bats tonight, Cortni [Emanuel] swung away later in the game and we're just very proud of the way we're able to change the way we've played."
Final thoughts…
"I would like to add that Harvard played a great game. They came out after the rain delay with an excellent game plan and really swung the bat well."
Senior LF #1 Cortni Emauel
On her ranging power at the plate...
"I think it's really important to be able to change your at bats. It's important to have short balls and long balls. I've been successful reading defenses and really just taking the opportunities that are given to me."
On the rain delay…
"I think we did a pretty good job of maintaining our minds locked into the game. We've been practicing all week and have had to deal with the rain so we've gotten used to the constant starting and stopping. You can't ever really prepare for rain but we got used to the constant change of pace, and I think it really traveled over to the game."
On what they did during the rain delay…
"We ate pizza!" Coach Harris-Champer interjected to add, "I thought it came a little too close to game time, but it was still good."
Sophomore CF #4 Ciara Bryan
On the recent lineup shift to the two-hole…
"I remember coach said to keep it on the ground in order to protect Cortni. I always think to myself 'keep it hard up the middle' because that's how I know I can give her the opportunity to score."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Avant, Mary Wilson (10-3)
L: Duncan,Kathleen (15-10)
Batting:
3B: Lockhart,Erin 1
RBI: Lockhart,Erin 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaplan,Maddy 1 ; Schiffhauer,Kaitlyn 1
Batting:
2B: Emanuel, Cortni 1 ; Bryan, Ciara 1 ; Febrey, Alysen 1 ; Doggett, Jordan 1 ; Burton, Kendall 1
HR: Milz, Justice 1
RBI: Emanuel, Cortni 1 ; Bryan, Ciara 1 ; Milz, Justice 1 ; O'Neal, Mahlena 1 ; Doggett, Jordan 1
SH: O'Neal, Mahlena 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Emanuel, Cortni 1 ; Milz, Justice 1 ; DiCarlo, Alyssa 1 ; Febrey, Alysen 1 ; Armistead, Tyler 1 ; Doggett, Jordan 1
SB: Emanuel, Cortni 1 ; Bryan, Ciara 1 ; Febrey, Alysen 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
C
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