University of Georgia Athletics
Thursday, February 25
Athens, Ga.
4:30 p.m.
University of Georgia
6-2
8
vs
3
Kennesaw State
3-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Kennesaw State
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
3
5
1
Georgia
3
2
2
1
0
0
X
8
8
2
No. 19 Bulldogs Ground Owls, 8-3
February 25, 2021 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. – The 19th-ranked Georgia softball team scored eight runs in the first four innings to seal the victory against in-state foe Kennesaw State Thursday at Jack Turner Stadium, 8-3.
Georgia's offense was ignited by a two-home run day for Lacey Fincher, the third of its kind in the career of the junior. Six other Bulldogs contributed a hit apiece in Thursday's contest.
Graduate Mary Wilson Avant (5-0) started in the circle for the Bulldogs. Avant pitched four innings with five strikeouts, giving up one run. Freshman Madison Kerpics pitched the final three innings in relief for the Bulldogs with three strikeouts, earning the three-inning save.
The Bulldogs (6-2) got off to a strong 3-0 start in the first when Fincher, sophomore Sara Mosely, and freshman Jayda Kearney all drew bases-loaded walks in the opening stanza.
Senior Mackenzie Puckett and Fincher continued the scoring for the Bulldogs with back-to-back bombs to right field in the home half of the second. The last time the Bulldogs hit back-to-back homeruns was against Eastern Illinois in 2020.
Kennesaw's Brinaya Bailey cut the Bulldogs lead to 5-1 in the top half of the third on an RBI groundout by Brea Dickey.
The Bulldogs increased their lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double off the bat of freshman Sydney Chambley to plate Kearney. Chambley immediately scored on a single poked through the left side by senior Jessica Morgan.
Fincher knocked her second homerun of the game for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was Fincher's third multi-homerun game of her career.
The Owls (3-6) tried to mount a late comeback in the seventh inning, plating a pair of one-out runs and cutting into Georgia lead, 8-3. Kerpics was able to fend off the Owls and secure the win for the Bulldogs.
Georgia will travel down the road for a three games in Atlanta this weekend. Georgia will play at Georgia State at noon Saturday against the Panthers then play Miami (Ohio) right after. Georgia will then take on Georgia Tech Sunday at 2 p.m.
Senior Mackenzie Puckett
On what the team did well in the game…
"I think we did a good job of just passing the bat and coming together as a team. We got our first six batters on, so I feel like we just did a great job of connecting as a whole."
On her approach at the plate…
"My approach is just to see the ball, see my pitch, and hit. I'm just trying to be on time, stay connected. I'm just telling myself that this is what I do. This is my job."
On bringing this win into games this weekend…
"I think we're going to take our win today and just continue to learn from it. We're just seeing as a team how we mesh together a lot better. We're going to take that a try and do the same thing this weekend."
Junior Lacey Fincher
On her approach at the plate…
"I've been working just middle-middle, seeing the pitch, seeing my pitch, and this year, I've been trying to not take many strikes and just work my process of if it's anywhere close trying to drive that ball right back up the middle. I think that process has been working well for me this year so far."
On hitting back-to-back homeruns…
"I think it feels great. I think Puckett and I have the same mentality and the same process. For me, it's just that I have to stay within myself. A lot of people get sped up and think they have to hit a homerun too, but my mentality was just base hit and then see what they throw me."
On using win today in the games this weekend…
"I think we really needed this win as a team. I think we played very well together. Our bats came alive today. It's just staying with it and keep fighting. I talked about starting from the beginning, starting from inning one, with the fight that you would start with in inning seven, just getting out right out of the chute. I think we did that really well today, and hopefully in the future we do that also."
Georgia's offense was ignited by a two-home run day for Lacey Fincher, the third of its kind in the career of the junior. Six other Bulldogs contributed a hit apiece in Thursday's contest.
Graduate Mary Wilson Avant (5-0) started in the circle for the Bulldogs. Avant pitched four innings with five strikeouts, giving up one run. Freshman Madison Kerpics pitched the final three innings in relief for the Bulldogs with three strikeouts, earning the three-inning save.
The Bulldogs (6-2) got off to a strong 3-0 start in the first when Fincher, sophomore Sara Mosely, and freshman Jayda Kearney all drew bases-loaded walks in the opening stanza.
Senior Mackenzie Puckett and Fincher continued the scoring for the Bulldogs with back-to-back bombs to right field in the home half of the second. The last time the Bulldogs hit back-to-back homeruns was against Eastern Illinois in 2020.
Kennesaw's Brinaya Bailey cut the Bulldogs lead to 5-1 in the top half of the third on an RBI groundout by Brea Dickey.
The Bulldogs increased their lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double off the bat of freshman Sydney Chambley to plate Kearney. Chambley immediately scored on a single poked through the left side by senior Jessica Morgan.
Fincher knocked her second homerun of the game for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was Fincher's third multi-homerun game of her career.
The Owls (3-6) tried to mount a late comeback in the seventh inning, plating a pair of one-out runs and cutting into Georgia lead, 8-3. Kerpics was able to fend off the Owls and secure the win for the Bulldogs.
Georgia will travel down the road for a three games in Atlanta this weekend. Georgia will play at Georgia State at noon Saturday against the Panthers then play Miami (Ohio) right after. Georgia will then take on Georgia Tech Sunday at 2 p.m.
Senior Mackenzie Puckett
On what the team did well in the game…
"I think we did a good job of just passing the bat and coming together as a team. We got our first six batters on, so I feel like we just did a great job of connecting as a whole."
On her approach at the plate…
"My approach is just to see the ball, see my pitch, and hit. I'm just trying to be on time, stay connected. I'm just telling myself that this is what I do. This is my job."
On bringing this win into games this weekend…
"I think we're going to take our win today and just continue to learn from it. We're just seeing as a team how we mesh together a lot better. We're going to take that a try and do the same thing this weekend."
Junior Lacey Fincher
On her approach at the plate…
"I've been working just middle-middle, seeing the pitch, seeing my pitch, and this year, I've been trying to not take many strikes and just work my process of if it's anywhere close trying to drive that ball right back up the middle. I think that process has been working well for me this year so far."
On hitting back-to-back homeruns…
"I think it feels great. I think Puckett and I have the same mentality and the same process. For me, it's just that I have to stay within myself. A lot of people get sped up and think they have to hit a homerun too, but my mentality was just base hit and then see what they throw me."
On using win today in the games this weekend…
"I think we really needed this win as a team. I think we played very well together. Our bats came alive today. It's just staying with it and keep fighting. I talked about starting from the beginning, starting from inning one, with the fight that you would start with in inning seven, just getting out right out of the chute. I think we did that really well today, and hopefully in the future we do that also."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Avant, Mary Wilson (5-0)
L: BENNETT, Melanie (2-4)
S: Kerpics, Madison (1)
Batting:
2B: WILLIAMS, Raleigh 1
RBI: DICKEY, Brea 1 ; FLORENCE, Christen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SUMMEY, Andrea 1 ; WILLIAMS, Raleigh 1 ; ALEXANDER, Faith 1
HBP: WILLIAMS, Raleigh 1
Batting:
2B: Chambley, Sydney 1
HR: Puckett, Mackenzie 1 ; Fincher, Lacey 2
RBI: Puckett, Mackenzie 1 ; Fincher, Lacey 3 ; Mosley, Sara 1 ; Kearney, Jayda 1 ; Chambley, Sydney 1 ; Morgan, Jessica 1
SH: Armistead, Ellie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kuma, Sydney 1 ; Sikes, Savana 1 ; Puckett, Mackenzie 2 ; Fincher, Lacey 2 ; Kearney, Jayda 1 ; Chambley, Sydney 1
HBP: Kuma, Sydney 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
rf/dp
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
OF/1B
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballINF
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