University of Georgia Athletics
Monday, April 3
Athens, Ga.
7 p.m.
University of Georgia
29-7, 0
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Kentucky
22-9-1, 0
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Kentucky
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Georgia
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Photo by: Mackenzie Miles
Georgia’s Win Streak Snapped, Falls to No. 16 Kentucky, 4-0
April 03, 2023 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. – The 15th-ranked Georgia softball team dropped the series finale to the 16th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Monday night at Jack Turner Stadium, 4-0.
With the result, the Bulldogs fall to 29-7 on the season and 9-2 in SEC play. Georgia's win streak was snapped at 11 games.
Junior pitcher Madison Kerpics (11-5) suffered the loss in her three and a third inning start, allowing one run on one hit. She walked five Wildcats. Graduate Shelby Walters and sophomore Kylie Macy worked the final three and two-thirds innings in relief.
Sara Mosely, Jaydyn Goodwin and Ellie Armistead each recorded a hit in Monday's matchup. Lyndi Rae Davis was walked twice.
Kentucky (22-9-1, 5-4) plated a runner in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Kerpics struck out the final batter to move into the bottom of the frame.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Wildcats capitalized on two fielding errors and a sac fly to center field to extend the lead to 4-0. Macy entered and got the Bulldogs out of a bases-loaded jam.
The Bulldog defense held the Wildcats in the top of the sixth behind two put-outs and a diving catch from Armistead.
A lead-off single from Mosely and a pair of walks put Georgia in a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth and forced Kentucky into a pitching change. Relief pitcher Sloan Gayan pulled the Wildcats out of the jam to end the sixth.
Once again, Georgia attempted to mount a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, putting two on, but Kentucky held the Bulldogs en route to the 4-0 shutout.
Georgia is back in action with a three-game series at Arkansas. The series begins Thursday at 7 p.m. at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the Monday' performance…
"It was a disappointing outcome. It was a game where we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and we didn't get enough going on offense to offset it. Their shortstop made some of the deciding plays in the game. She made a couple outstanding plays, she drove in a couple of their big runs, and that's why she's one of the best players in the conference and in the country. But I thought we were resilient tonight. It's easy to say you're resilient when the outcomes work, but you must be resilient when they don't go your way too and I thought we were tonight. At the end of the day, we won a series at home. We had great crowds all weekend; fans were amazing, and they impacted the game tonight we just didn't get it done."
On heading into the series against Arkansas…
"You know, it's kind of a weird week. We got to play tonight, we're going to take a day off tomorrow, we'll try and get a good workout in on Wednesday and then head to Arkansas and play another really good team. But you know, that's life in the SEC. They're all good teams. We've got to clean up our defense. We've been playing great defense all season but this weekend we got it a little out of whack. But I don't think that's who we are. I think we can still be a really good defensive team and we'll just keep working to do that.
With the result, the Bulldogs fall to 29-7 on the season and 9-2 in SEC play. Georgia's win streak was snapped at 11 games.
Junior pitcher Madison Kerpics (11-5) suffered the loss in her three and a third inning start, allowing one run on one hit. She walked five Wildcats. Graduate Shelby Walters and sophomore Kylie Macy worked the final three and two-thirds innings in relief.
Sara Mosely, Jaydyn Goodwin and Ellie Armistead each recorded a hit in Monday's matchup. Lyndi Rae Davis was walked twice.
Kentucky (22-9-1, 5-4) plated a runner in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Kerpics struck out the final batter to move into the bottom of the frame.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Wildcats capitalized on two fielding errors and a sac fly to center field to extend the lead to 4-0. Macy entered and got the Bulldogs out of a bases-loaded jam.
The Bulldog defense held the Wildcats in the top of the sixth behind two put-outs and a diving catch from Armistead.
A lead-off single from Mosely and a pair of walks put Georgia in a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth and forced Kentucky into a pitching change. Relief pitcher Sloan Gayan pulled the Wildcats out of the jam to end the sixth.
Once again, Georgia attempted to mount a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, putting two on, but Kentucky held the Bulldogs en route to the 4-0 shutout.
Georgia is back in action with a three-game series at Arkansas. The series begins Thursday at 7 p.m. at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the Monday' performance…
"It was a disappointing outcome. It was a game where we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and we didn't get enough going on offense to offset it. Their shortstop made some of the deciding plays in the game. She made a couple outstanding plays, she drove in a couple of their big runs, and that's why she's one of the best players in the conference and in the country. But I thought we were resilient tonight. It's easy to say you're resilient when the outcomes work, but you must be resilient when they don't go your way too and I thought we were tonight. At the end of the day, we won a series at home. We had great crowds all weekend; fans were amazing, and they impacted the game tonight we just didn't get it done."
On heading into the series against Arkansas…
"You know, it's kind of a weird week. We got to play tonight, we're going to take a day off tomorrow, we'll try and get a good workout in on Wednesday and then head to Arkansas and play another really good team. But you know, that's life in the SEC. They're all good teams. We've got to clean up our defense. We've been playing great defense all season but this weekend we got it a little out of whack. But I don't think that's who we are. I think we can still be a really good defensive team and we'll just keep working to do that.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kennedy Sullivan (1-0)
L: Kerpics, Madison (11-5)
S: Sloan Gayan (2)
Batting:
RBI: Erin Coffel 1 ; Taylor Ebbs 1
SH: Grace Lorsung 1
SF: Taylor Ebbs 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kayla Kowalik 1 ; Vanessa Nesby 1 ; Erin Coffel 1 ; Rylea Smith 1
SB: Vanessa Nesby 1
HBP: Kennedy Sullivan 1
Base Running:
SB: Kuma, Sydney 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
C/1B
/ SoftballINF/OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
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