VIDEO: Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - . No. 26 Georgia College (27-9) got timely two-out hitting and bounced on a handful of Carson-Newman (18-10) mistakes to take a doubleheader sweep from the Eagles Wednesday afternoon at the Vickee Kazee-Hollifield Softball Complex.
Georgia College won game one 2-1 before handing the Eagles their second shutout of the season, 6-0 in the nightcap.
"In taking to our team, I told them that our pitchers gave us an opportunity to win both those games," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "We had a handful of defensive miscues, and with a team as good as Georgia College, you don't have room to give them 60 feet anyway. I was most disappointed in the second game that we struck out six times looking."
Game one: #26 Georgia College 2, Carson-Newman 1
The game featured a pitcher's duel for the first five innings of the contest. The Eagles were limited to three hits while Donna Ryan (Orlando, Fla.) and Andi Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) made spectacular plays in left and in center for outs.
However, the Bobcats were able to break up the Eagles perfect game and no-hitter in the sixth to take the lead. Baylee Hall led off the inning with a walk to break up Allison Webster's (Charlestown, Ind.) bid for a perfect game. She moved to second on a sacrifice and third on a groundout. From there, Kristen Brooks singled through the left side to break up the no-hitter and give Georgia College a 1-0 lead.
Holland Coursey then doubled to the wall in left center for a 2-0 lead for the Bobcats. Both runs in the inning came with two outs for GC.
In the home half of the sixth, Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) worked a leadoff walk and took second on a wild pitch, but the Eagles couldn't generate a two-out rally of their own and left her stranded on second.
Carson-Newman tried to rally in the seventh with a Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va,) home run to left to lead off the inning. It was her ninth of the season. However, the Eagles couldn't muster any other offense to complete the comeback.
Webster took the loss to fall to 10-5 on the season. She only gave up the two hits with two out in the seventh. She tallied six strikeouts, a season low in a complete game.
Marissa Boyette got the win for the Bobcats. She improves to 11-3 on the year. Boyette allowed four hits and struck out eight on the day.
Game two: #26 Georgia College 6, Carson-Newman 0
Carson-Newman threatened first, but couldn't bring any runs across. The Eagles loaded the bases in the second with base hits to start the inning from Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) and Cheyenne Boles (Knoxville, Tenn.).
They moved to third and second on a Smith groundout before Toppel was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two out. However, Shon Jordan (Hermitage, Tenn.) grounded out to second, and the Eagles were unable to do any damage.
Georgia College would strike in the third inning. Hall led off the inning with a walk, stole second and moved to third on a Kristen Brooks single through the left side.
Brooks then stole second, and with no one covering, Pritchett rocketed a throw into center that allowed Hall to score on the E2, giving GC a 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats put the game out of reach in the seventh with a five-run inning. Abi LeRoy reached on a dropped fly ball in right to start off the inning, then scored a batter later when pinch hitter Caroline Snider laid down a bunt to the left of the circle. Pitcher Danielle Kranz (Fairfield, Calif.) let the ball go, expecting back up to come from either short or second, however, both Jordan and Toppel were in motion elsewhere backing up the play.
As a result, the ball rolled deep into the hole at short and allowed LeRoy to score from two bases away. A Kristen Brooks two-RBI double to right center pushed the lead to 4-0.
With two out, Taylor Campbell drilled a moon shot down the left field line for two unearned runs pushing the lead to 6-0 – a margin the Eagles would be unable to recover from.
C-N left seven stranded on base in the first three innings before Carly Lewis settled down in the circle and retired 11 straight batters before Ryan got a single to right with one out in the seventh.
Carson-Newman was 3-for-13 at the plate in game two with runners on base and 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Lewis improved to 13-5 with the win. She struck out nine, including six looking.
Kranz took the loss for the Eagles to fall to 3-4.
Carson-Newman hits the road Friday for a battle for first place in the league with Catawba. First pitch with the Indians is slated for 1 p.m. from Salisbury. Follow @cnathletics on Twitter for updates on the contest.
