April 2, 2010
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Score | Updated Stats
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ATLANTA – Junior Kristine Priebe went 4-for-6 with a home run and six RBI and freshman Hope Rush threw her second career no-hitter as the No. 10/7 Georgia Tech Softball team (31-5, 7-1 ACC) swept Virginia Tech (13-22, 2-6) in a doubleheader Friday night at Mewborn Field. The Yellow Jackets won game one 15-1 in five innings behind the Rush no-hitter and then took game two by a 3-1 score as sophomore Jessica Coan struck out 11.
The wins clinch the 13th straight ACC series for the Yellow Jackets. Rush (17-3) allowed just one unearned run in her second no-hitter against an ACC team as she walked three and struck out seven. Coan (8-1) was perfect for the first three innings and allowed one run on a solo home run in the fifth. She gave up four hits and one walk to go along with the 11 strikeouts in the complete game effort.
Junior Christy Jones, sophomore Kelsi Weseman and redshirt senior Jen Yee all had three hits apiece for Georgia Tech. Weseman and Yee each had two doubles and two RBI while Yee was intentionally walked three more times on the night.
In game one, the Yellow Jackets score in every inning en route to a 15-1 win. Yee led off the first inning with a double and came around to score on a RBI single by Priebe. Freshman Caitlin Jordan also recorded a RBI with a ground out in the inning.
The second inning saw Virginia Tech pitcher Kenzie Roark strike the first two Tech batters out but the next five all reached base and scored. Junior Christy Jones got it going with an infield single and then Roark walked both Yee and sophomore Kate Kuzma to load the bases. Yee’s walk was her 13th intentional walk of the season. After a two-run single by Weseman made it 4-0, Priebe cleared the bases with a three-run home run to make it a 7-0 game. It was Priebe’s seventh home run of the season.
Ashton Ward entered the game in relief of Roark in the third inning and gave up two runs on a two-run home run by sophomore Jessica Sinclair, her seventh of the season. Then in the fourth inning, the Yellow Jackets broke the game wide open with six more runs off of Ward. Priebe and Jordan each had RBI singles while Rush added a sac fly. Later in the inning, the Jackets got three more runs on RBI double by sophomore Danielle Dike and two-run double off the bat of Yee.
Rush gave up just the one unearned run in the top of the fourth inning but still managed to record in her second no-hitter in the last couple of weeks.
Game two was a pitcher’s duel all the way between Coan and Virginia Tech freshman Jasmin Harrell. Harrell gave up just one hit the first time through the Tech line-up but the Jackets scratched across a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and Coan made them stand up.
Weseman led off with a double, her second of the game, and came around to score on a RBI single by Priebe. Priebe then scored later in the inning on a sharp single up the middle by Rush.
Coan was perfect through the first three frames with four strikouts, but with two outs in the top of the fourth inning Courtney Liddle doubled to left-center field on the 11th pitch of the at bat for the Hokies’ first hit of the game. She went to third on a wild pitch, but Coan got out of the jam.
Misty Hall cut the Jackets’ lead in half when she homered in the top of the fifth inning.
The Jackets added a big insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. With runners at second and third with nobody out, Harrell nearly got out of the jam but Jones legged out a bunt single which scored Rush and made it 3-1 Georgia Tech.
In the top of the seventh inning, an error, single and sacrifice gave the Hokies runners at second and third with just one out. Coan was able to end the game, however, as she struck out both Hall and Betty Rose.
Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech will close out its three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m. Live video, audio and stats will be available at www.RamblinWreck.com. The game will also be broadcast on WREK, 91.1 FM in Atlanta.
