Friday, May 19
Athens, Ga.
4:30 p.m.
University of Georgia
40-13
12
vs
0
North Carolina Central
19-34
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
NC Central
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
Georgia
12
0
0
0
X
12
10
0
Georgia Tosses No-Hitter to Begin NCAA Tournament, Beats NC Central 12-0
May 19, 2023 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. – The 14th-seeded Georgia softball team exploded for 12 runs in the first inning while the pitching staff tossed a no-hitter against North Carolina Central Friday afternoon in the opening game of the 2023 NCAA Athens Regional, beating the Eagles 12-0 in five innings.
Georgia improves to 40-13 on the season. The Bulldogs will take on Virginia Tech Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jack Turner Stadium. The winner will earn a spot in Sunday's regional championship game while the loser will face Boston University or NC Central at approximately 6 p.m. in the elimination bracket.
The no-hitter is the fourth in the NCAA Tournament history of the Bulldogs' program. The last was May 19, 2014, in Athens against NC State by current assistant coach Chelsea Wilkinson.
Shelby Walters, Madison Kerpics (18-6), Riley Orcutt, and Kylie Macy combined for the no-no. Kerpics, Orcutt, and Macy each tallied two strikeouts.
At the plate, Dallis Goodnight, Sara Mosley, and Sydney Chambley all had two hits. Chambley drove in five runs while Goodnight tallied three. They each knocked a home run in the game.
A 12-run first inning put the Bulldogs way out in front. The scoring started on an RBI single from Mosley to put Georgia on the board, 1-0. With bases loaded, Chambley knocked a grand slam, the second of her career, to go up 5-0. After an RBI hit from Jaiden Fields, Goodnight knocked her second home run of the season to widen the lead to 9-0. Back-to-back RBI hits from Mosley and Sydney Kuma followed by a sac fly from Chambley completed the 12-run first inning.
The Eagles (19-34) held the Bulldogs scoreless the remainder of the game as Georgia's staff combined to secure the no-hitter in five innings, 12-0.
Georgia Head Coach Tony Baldwin
Opening Statement…
"I'm just proud of the way that we came out and competed right at the beginning. I feel like it's been forever since we played a game, but we've had some really good practices. I thought they carried that into that first inning there in particular, and we started off really sharp with the bats. First no hitter I believe, since maybe 2014, and I think Chelsea Wilkinson, our pitching coach, was the last one to throw a no hitter for us in the postseason, so that's kind of cool. It was, I think, on this exact day, too. So, all in all, a really good game."
On what can be expected from Virginia Tech tomorrow…
"They have a really good team. They have a couple of different looks from the pitching staff. Offensively, you know that they're going to put hits together. We have to keep them in the yard. We've got to keep free bases to a minimum and, at the end of the day, we just have to go compete. That's what we can control. If we go and we're the best version of ourselves and we're letting it rip and competing with energy, connected, doing the things that are important to us, I like our chances against anybody. If you do that and you come up short, then you can tip your hat to those teams. But tomorrow we're going to come out and get after it and compete and try and do the things that we've done in practice this week and go get after them and see what happens."
Georgia Junior Sydney Chambley
On the offensive explosion in the first inning…
"I think something that we value is trusting our training and just going in the game and having fun and letting what we've worked so hard to do, just kind of letting it rip and come out naturally. I'm just proud that we did that very well, just trusting our training and keeping it simple and playing the game that we love to play."
Georgia Senior Sara Mosley
On scoring 12 runs in the first inning after struggling offensively in the SEC tournament…
"We worked our butts off this week in practice. We had a hard week of practice and that's just paying off, and we've just been so excited to play. Like [Coach Tony Baldwin] said, it feels like it's been forever since we've played, so just being out on the field one more time is just so fun."
North Carolina Central University Head Coach Cat Tarvin
Opening Statement…
"We take away the first inning, and it's a much better ballgame. I think nerves got the best of us, and after, we settled down. We got after it one pitch at a time."
On making the NCAA Tournament…
"I think the schedule planning had a lot to do with it. North Carolina, Duke, App State and a bunch of different people are around us, and we're able to play double headers with them. They're able to play in front of fans and facilities that are nicer than ours, but we still go after it."
North Carolina Central University Freshman Takia Nichols
On the moment in the MEAC Tournament when they realized they could make the NCAA Tournament…
"Before we even got off of the bus when we first got there," Nichols said. "I knew we had it. There was so much energy, we were focused, and we knew what the plan was. We just had to execute."
North Carolina Central University Junior Jaylah Barr
On playing in front of a large crowd in the NCAA Tournament…
"I think that it was very new for us," Barr said. "We had never played in front of that many people. I think now that we know what to expect, and now we have fans there, we're going to have a much better day tomorrow."
Georgia improves to 40-13 on the season. The Bulldogs will take on Virginia Tech Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jack Turner Stadium. The winner will earn a spot in Sunday's regional championship game while the loser will face Boston University or NC Central at approximately 6 p.m. in the elimination bracket.
The no-hitter is the fourth in the NCAA Tournament history of the Bulldogs' program. The last was May 19, 2014, in Athens against NC State by current assistant coach Chelsea Wilkinson.
Shelby Walters, Madison Kerpics (18-6), Riley Orcutt, and Kylie Macy combined for the no-no. Kerpics, Orcutt, and Macy each tallied two strikeouts.
At the plate, Dallis Goodnight, Sara Mosley, and Sydney Chambley all had two hits. Chambley drove in five runs while Goodnight tallied three. They each knocked a home run in the game.
A 12-run first inning put the Bulldogs way out in front. The scoring started on an RBI single from Mosley to put Georgia on the board, 1-0. With bases loaded, Chambley knocked a grand slam, the second of her career, to go up 5-0. After an RBI hit from Jaiden Fields, Goodnight knocked her second home run of the season to widen the lead to 9-0. Back-to-back RBI hits from Mosley and Sydney Kuma followed by a sac fly from Chambley completed the 12-run first inning.
The Eagles (19-34) held the Bulldogs scoreless the remainder of the game as Georgia's staff combined to secure the no-hitter in five innings, 12-0.
Georgia Head Coach Tony Baldwin
Opening Statement…
"I'm just proud of the way that we came out and competed right at the beginning. I feel like it's been forever since we played a game, but we've had some really good practices. I thought they carried that into that first inning there in particular, and we started off really sharp with the bats. First no hitter I believe, since maybe 2014, and I think Chelsea Wilkinson, our pitching coach, was the last one to throw a no hitter for us in the postseason, so that's kind of cool. It was, I think, on this exact day, too. So, all in all, a really good game."
On what can be expected from Virginia Tech tomorrow…
"They have a really good team. They have a couple of different looks from the pitching staff. Offensively, you know that they're going to put hits together. We have to keep them in the yard. We've got to keep free bases to a minimum and, at the end of the day, we just have to go compete. That's what we can control. If we go and we're the best version of ourselves and we're letting it rip and competing with energy, connected, doing the things that are important to us, I like our chances against anybody. If you do that and you come up short, then you can tip your hat to those teams. But tomorrow we're going to come out and get after it and compete and try and do the things that we've done in practice this week and go get after them and see what happens."
Georgia Junior Sydney Chambley
On the offensive explosion in the first inning…
"I think something that we value is trusting our training and just going in the game and having fun and letting what we've worked so hard to do, just kind of letting it rip and come out naturally. I'm just proud that we did that very well, just trusting our training and keeping it simple and playing the game that we love to play."
Georgia Senior Sara Mosley
On scoring 12 runs in the first inning after struggling offensively in the SEC tournament…
"We worked our butts off this week in practice. We had a hard week of practice and that's just paying off, and we've just been so excited to play. Like [Coach Tony Baldwin] said, it feels like it's been forever since we've played, so just being out on the field one more time is just so fun."
North Carolina Central University Head Coach Cat Tarvin
Opening Statement…
"We take away the first inning, and it's a much better ballgame. I think nerves got the best of us, and after, we settled down. We got after it one pitch at a time."
On making the NCAA Tournament…
"I think the schedule planning had a lot to do with it. North Carolina, Duke, App State and a bunch of different people are around us, and we're able to play double headers with them. They're able to play in front of fans and facilities that are nicer than ours, but we still go after it."
North Carolina Central University Freshman Takia Nichols
On the moment in the MEAC Tournament when they realized they could make the NCAA Tournament…
"Before we even got off of the bus when we first got there," Nichols said. "I knew we had it. There was so much energy, we were focused, and we knew what the plan was. We just had to execute."
North Carolina Central University Junior Jaylah Barr
On playing in front of a large crowd in the NCAA Tournament…
"I think that it was very new for us," Barr said. "We had never played in front of that many people. I think now that we know what to expect, and now we have fans there, we're going to have a much better day tomorrow."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kerpics, Madison (18-6)
L: EUBANKS,Ashanti (8-16)
Batting:
2B: Mosley, Sara 1
HR: Goodnight, Dallis 1 ; Chambley, Sydney 1
RBI: Goodnight, Dallis 3 ; Mosley, Sara 2 ; Kuma, Sydney 1 ; Chambley, Sydney 5
SF: Chambley, Sydney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Goodnight, Dallis 2 ; Davis, Lyndi Rae 1 ; Kearney, Jayda 2 ; Mosley, Sara 2 ; Kuma, Sydney 1 ; Chambley, Sydney 1 ; Goodwin, Jaydyn 1 ; Fields, Jaiden 1 ; Armistead, Ellie 1
SB: Goodnight, Dallis 1 ; Goodwin, Jaydyn 1
HBP: Armistead, Ellie 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
dp/rf
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
5
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/1B
/ Softball
OF/1B
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
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