Saturday, March 30
Athens, Ga.
12 p.m.
University of Georgia
28-5, 5-2
2
vs
3
Arkansas
25-8, 4-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Arkansas
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
5
3
Georgia
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
5
0
Comeback Comes Up Short in 3-2 Loss to No. 20 Arkansas
March 30, 2024 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. – The third-ranked Georgia softball team fell to No. 20 Arkansas 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Jack Turner Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,863. Georgia loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but the late-inning comeback came up short in the series opener.
The Bulldogs are now 28-5 on the season and 5-2 in SEC play.
Jayda Kearney led the offense with a two-hit day. Georgia and Arkansas held each other to five hits each in the game.
Lilli Backes (12-2) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on four hits in her four-inning start. She struck out four Razorback hitters and walked one. Shelby Walters pitched three scoreless innings in out of the pen, giving up just one hit.
The Razorbacks (25-8, 4-3) stuck first with a three-run home run in the first inning to go in front 3-0.
Georgia capitalized on Arkansas miscues in the bottom of the sixth to break up the shutout. Kearney led off the inning with a single to left and was pinch ran for by Hayley Eaton. Following a walk to Sydney Kuma, both runners advanced into scoring position on a groundout. A wild pitch allowed Eaton to score and put Georgia on the board. On the same play, Kuma scored when the throw to the circle by the catcher was off the mark, making it a one-run game, 3-2. Another error, this time by the second baseman, allowed Ellie Armistead to reach and extend the inning. Armistead was stranded on second to end the frame.
Following a 1-2-3 top of the seventh by Walters, Georgia mounted a rally in the home half of the inning. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two out, but a pop-up to short ended the rally.
Game two of the series is set for noon on Sunday, March 31. The matchup will air live on ESPN 2 from Jack Turner Stadium.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the team's performance…
"Great day for softball, another great crowd. At the end of the day, these are the days that you look forward to, and the outcomes are what they are. But I'm really proud of the team today. I thought Lilli [Backes] settled in, she didn't have her A-stuff, but she kept competing and kept putting zeros up on the board. Shelby [Walters] came in and threw great. We put ourselves in a position; we just didn't quite make the shot at the end. We just needed one more good at-bat. The people that we had up in that moment, I'll take them any time, knowing full well that they aren't going to come through every time. That's just the game; we shot our shot, and we missed. We'll recover and go back to work tomorrow."
On scoring and not leaving runners on base…
"The hardest part of scoring is getting runners on base, and we did do that today. We've just got to continue to string together quality at-bats. We have one of the better offensives in the country because we have been pretty good at stringing together at-bats. We didn't string quite enough together to put runs on the board but I feel good about going back out there and competing again tomorrow."
The Bulldogs are now 28-5 on the season and 5-2 in SEC play.
Jayda Kearney led the offense with a two-hit day. Georgia and Arkansas held each other to five hits each in the game.
Lilli Backes (12-2) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on four hits in her four-inning start. She struck out four Razorback hitters and walked one. Shelby Walters pitched three scoreless innings in out of the pen, giving up just one hit.
The Razorbacks (25-8, 4-3) stuck first with a three-run home run in the first inning to go in front 3-0.
Georgia capitalized on Arkansas miscues in the bottom of the sixth to break up the shutout. Kearney led off the inning with a single to left and was pinch ran for by Hayley Eaton. Following a walk to Sydney Kuma, both runners advanced into scoring position on a groundout. A wild pitch allowed Eaton to score and put Georgia on the board. On the same play, Kuma scored when the throw to the circle by the catcher was off the mark, making it a one-run game, 3-2. Another error, this time by the second baseman, allowed Ellie Armistead to reach and extend the inning. Armistead was stranded on second to end the frame.
Following a 1-2-3 top of the seventh by Walters, Georgia mounted a rally in the home half of the inning. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two out, but a pop-up to short ended the rally.
Game two of the series is set for noon on Sunday, March 31. The matchup will air live on ESPN 2 from Jack Turner Stadium.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the team's performance…
"Great day for softball, another great crowd. At the end of the day, these are the days that you look forward to, and the outcomes are what they are. But I'm really proud of the team today. I thought Lilli [Backes] settled in, she didn't have her A-stuff, but she kept competing and kept putting zeros up on the board. Shelby [Walters] came in and threw great. We put ourselves in a position; we just didn't quite make the shot at the end. We just needed one more good at-bat. The people that we had up in that moment, I'll take them any time, knowing full well that they aren't going to come through every time. That's just the game; we shot our shot, and we missed. We'll recover and go back to work tomorrow."
On scoring and not leaving runners on base…
"The hardest part of scoring is getting runners on base, and we did do that today. We've just got to continue to string together quality at-bats. We have one of the better offensives in the country because we have been pretty good at stringing together at-bats. We didn't string quite enough together to put runs on the board but I feel good about going back out there and competing again tomorrow."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Morgan Leinstock (7-2)
L: Backes, Lilli (12-2)
Batting:
HR: Bri Ellis 1
RBI: Bri Ellis 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Reagan Johnson 1 ; Raigan Kramer 1 ; Bri Ellis 1
SB: Reagan Johnson 1
HBP: Hannah Gammill 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Eaton, Hayley 1 ; Kuma, Sydney 1
SB: Chambley, Sydney 1
HBP: Fields, Jaiden 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
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