Wednesday, April 20
Athens, Ga.
6:00 p.m.
University of Georgia
36-9
5
vs
3
USC Upstate
41-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
USC Upstate
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
3
7
0
Georgia
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
2
5
8
0
Davis’ Home Run Walks Off USC Upstate in Eight, 5-3
April 20, 2022 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. – A two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off the bat of freshman catcher Lyndi Rae Davis lifted No. 14/13 Georgia over USC Upstate Wednesday evening at Jack Turner Stadium, 5-3.
Georgia climbs to 36-9 on the season.
Junior Sara Mosley's hot streak continued with two hits and driving in three of Georgia's five runs. Her 14thhome run of the season puts her in the team lead in the category. Senior Lacey Fincher also added two hits in the game. The pair combined for 50 percent of Georgia's eight hits.
Sophomore Madison Kerpics worked three and two-thirds innings in her start in the circle, allowing two runs on four hits. Britton Rogers (9-1) earned the win in the circle, working four and a third innings out of the pen, allowing just one run on three hits. Rogers fanned five Spartans in her outing.
The Spartans (41-5) touched home in the top of the third on an RBI single to center to go ahead 1-0.
A two-out double off the top of the wall in center by Sydney Kuma set up Mosley for a two-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the inning to go up 2-1.
Upstate responded immediately in the top of the fourth with a leadoff solo shot to left field to retie the game at 2-all. Another solo homer in the top of the fifth put the Spartans back in front, 3-2.
Mosley picked up her third RBI of the game when she drove in Mackenzie Puckett in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game up once again, 3-3.
Both teams were held scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings to send the game into extras.
Rogers retired Upstate in order in the top of the eighth. A leadoff single and back-to-back fielder's choice put a runner on first with two out. Davis lifted a high fly ball to center that went out for her second home run, walking off the Spartans, 5-3.
The Bulldogs are back in action this weekend with a three-game series against LSU at Jack Turner Stadium. The series begins Friday at 6 p.m.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On how this game changes the team's mindset heading into SEC play this weekend…
"I don't know that it changes anything, but it just is another example of playing the game, doing what we do, and fighting like heck to get the point that's in front of us. That's really the thing is this game demands that you're present and that you fight the fight with whatever you have that day. It's been kind of a crazy week with Easter and off days, and I thought that we weren't our best today in terms of a couple of the things that we can do a little bit better. I thought we had enough people step up, and Britton [Rogers] threw a great game when she came in in relief. I thought our defense was outstanding. Ellie [Armistead] and Sara [Mosley] made some really great plays. I thought we got some really timely at bats. That's what it takes to win games, and that's what we did today."
On facing Hannah Houge and other great pitchers…
"I thought we battled. I thought we got some good swings off. We had a couple balls that if the field was just a little wider might have been homeruns, and we had one off the top of the fence out there. I thought that we did some good things, and I thought we were in a pretty good place. She's had a lot of success for a reason. The good news is we see a lot of good pitchers in the SEC, so I feel like we were prepared mentally to just fight the fight."
On Britton Rogers…
"I thought the biggest thing she did was stay present and just execute her pitches. At the end of the day, all you have to do is focus on making your pitch. The outcomes will take care of themselves if you execute the pitch, and I thought she did a great job of executing the pitches that were called, doing her thing, and trusting her defense. They had an opportunity to take the game right there, and we kept them from doing it. That gave us an opportunity to do it later."
Junior Sara Mosley
On her hitting streak…
I'm just having fun. I'm just going out there and playing Georgia softball and just doing me. I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for my team. I can't do it without them having my back, and I'm just having theirs. I'm just trusting that they trust me, and I'm just having fun."
On the defense…
"It's just having each other's backs and staying with each other, having our pitcher's back and her having ours. Sometimes when hitters can't get it done, the defense will. Sometimes when the defense doesn't get it done, the offense will. It's just a team game and working together and having each other's back."
Freshman Lyndi Rae Davis
On her walk-off homerun…
"It's just unreal. I don't really know how to describe it. Obviously, I'm a freshman, so it's just coming in here and competing every day. It's something that, like Coach Tony said, doesn't happen six months ago, but it's just a process just working overtime. That's not something that just happens. That's something that's been in the works now for six months now."
On the team's focus coming into the game…
"We knew this team was scrappy. We knew they were a good team. They've only lost four games, so we knew coming in and being a midweek game that we had to come in here, take care of business, and play Georgia softball. I feel like Georgia softball, we continue to fight, and we don't let down. We don't look at the scoreboard, we're always competing. I feel like we did that tonight."
Georgia climbs to 36-9 on the season.
Junior Sara Mosley's hot streak continued with two hits and driving in three of Georgia's five runs. Her 14thhome run of the season puts her in the team lead in the category. Senior Lacey Fincher also added two hits in the game. The pair combined for 50 percent of Georgia's eight hits.
Sophomore Madison Kerpics worked three and two-thirds innings in her start in the circle, allowing two runs on four hits. Britton Rogers (9-1) earned the win in the circle, working four and a third innings out of the pen, allowing just one run on three hits. Rogers fanned five Spartans in her outing.
The Spartans (41-5) touched home in the top of the third on an RBI single to center to go ahead 1-0.
A two-out double off the top of the wall in center by Sydney Kuma set up Mosley for a two-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the inning to go up 2-1.
Upstate responded immediately in the top of the fourth with a leadoff solo shot to left field to retie the game at 2-all. Another solo homer in the top of the fifth put the Spartans back in front, 3-2.
Mosley picked up her third RBI of the game when she drove in Mackenzie Puckett in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game up once again, 3-3.
Both teams were held scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings to send the game into extras.
Rogers retired Upstate in order in the top of the eighth. A leadoff single and back-to-back fielder's choice put a runner on first with two out. Davis lifted a high fly ball to center that went out for her second home run, walking off the Spartans, 5-3.
The Bulldogs are back in action this weekend with a three-game series against LSU at Jack Turner Stadium. The series begins Friday at 6 p.m.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On how this game changes the team's mindset heading into SEC play this weekend…
"I don't know that it changes anything, but it just is another example of playing the game, doing what we do, and fighting like heck to get the point that's in front of us. That's really the thing is this game demands that you're present and that you fight the fight with whatever you have that day. It's been kind of a crazy week with Easter and off days, and I thought that we weren't our best today in terms of a couple of the things that we can do a little bit better. I thought we had enough people step up, and Britton [Rogers] threw a great game when she came in in relief. I thought our defense was outstanding. Ellie [Armistead] and Sara [Mosley] made some really great plays. I thought we got some really timely at bats. That's what it takes to win games, and that's what we did today."
On facing Hannah Houge and other great pitchers…
"I thought we battled. I thought we got some good swings off. We had a couple balls that if the field was just a little wider might have been homeruns, and we had one off the top of the fence out there. I thought that we did some good things, and I thought we were in a pretty good place. She's had a lot of success for a reason. The good news is we see a lot of good pitchers in the SEC, so I feel like we were prepared mentally to just fight the fight."
On Britton Rogers…
"I thought the biggest thing she did was stay present and just execute her pitches. At the end of the day, all you have to do is focus on making your pitch. The outcomes will take care of themselves if you execute the pitch, and I thought she did a great job of executing the pitches that were called, doing her thing, and trusting her defense. They had an opportunity to take the game right there, and we kept them from doing it. That gave us an opportunity to do it later."
Junior Sara Mosley
On her hitting streak…
I'm just having fun. I'm just going out there and playing Georgia softball and just doing me. I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for my team. I can't do it without them having my back, and I'm just having theirs. I'm just trusting that they trust me, and I'm just having fun."
On the defense…
"It's just having each other's backs and staying with each other, having our pitcher's back and her having ours. Sometimes when hitters can't get it done, the defense will. Sometimes when the defense doesn't get it done, the offense will. It's just a team game and working together and having each other's back."
Freshman Lyndi Rae Davis
On her walk-off homerun…
"It's just unreal. I don't really know how to describe it. Obviously, I'm a freshman, so it's just coming in here and competing every day. It's something that, like Coach Tony said, doesn't happen six months ago, but it's just a process just working overtime. That's not something that just happens. That's something that's been in the works now for six months now."
On the team's focus coming into the game…
"We knew this team was scrappy. We knew they were a good team. They've only lost four games, so we knew coming in and being a midweek game that we had to come in here, take care of business, and play Georgia softball. I feel like Georgia softball, we continue to fight, and we don't let down. We don't look at the scoreboard, we're always competing. I feel like we did that tonight."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rogers, Britton (9-1)
L: HOUGE, Hannah (24-4)
Batting:
2B: GOGUTS, Casey 1
HR: DOMINGUE, Tiffany 1 ; DARNELL, Peyton 1
RBI: DOMINGUE, Tiffany 1 ; JOHNSON, Summer 1 ; DARNELL, Peyton 1
SH: DELORENZO, Celeste 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PRICE, Sarah 1 ; DOMINGUE, Tiffany 1 ; DARNELL, Peyton 1
SB: PRICE, Sarah 1
Batting:
2B: Puckett, Mackenzie 1 ; Kuma, Sydney 1
HR: Mosley, Sara 1 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 1
RBI: Mosley, Sara 3 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Puckett, Mackenzie 1 ; Kuma, Sydney 1 ; Mosley, Sara 1 ; Fields, Jaiden 1 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 1
SB: Kearney, Jayda 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/1B
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballUT
/ Softball
RHP
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