April 25, 2002
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech softball team’s most successful regular season draws to a close this weekend as the Jackets (43-15, 6-2 ACC) host Mercer (21-31, 4-12 Atlantic Sun) Friday and rival No. 25 Georgia (49-12, 17-12 SEC) Sunday at Glenn Field. Friday’s action begins at 3 p.m., while the highly-anticipated doubleheader with the Bulldogs is slated for 2 p.m.
Tech returns home, where they are 17-1 on the season, for the first time since April 10 after going 4-4 on its eight-game road trip. The Jackets have not lost at Glenn Field since a 3-0 loss to Furman on February 13. The team has won four in a row and is coming off a doubleheader sweep at Samford on Wednesday.
The starting pitching tandem of freshman Jessica Sallinger and sophomore Erin Voeltz continues to lead the Jackets. The duo owns a combined 36-13 record, led by Sallinger, who has a school-record 20 wins. She also has a single-season record 239 strikeouts and a 1.33 earned run average. Voeltz is 16-6 with a 2.21 ERA.
Sophomore shortstop Tara Knudsen leads the team offensively with a .380 batting average, 14 homers and 46 runs batted in.
Tech’s defense also remains strong, as the Jackets rank 11th nationally with a .971 fielding percentage.
Mercer enters Friday’s meeting having dropped 12 of its last 15 games. Amy Parbon leads the Bears with a .253 average, while Stacy Nagel has 12 homers and 32 RBI to rank as the team’s top run-producer. As a team, Mercer is batting .221 on the season. Tech leads the all-time series, 39-12.
Following the twin bill with the Bears, Tech will conclude the regular season against Georgia. These should be ultra-competitive as both teams are enjoying program-best seasons and are hoping to their first bid to the NCAA Championships.
Ranked 25th nationally, the Bulldogs are led by Nicole Barber, who is batting .413 and has stolen 68 consecutive bases, one shy of the NCAA record. Kim Wendland ranks second on the team with a .410 average and leads UGA with 50 RBI. The Bulldogs, who are hitting .300 as a team, have six batters batting at least .300 and four with 30 or more runs batted in.
The Georgia pitching staff sports a combined 1.66 ERA, led by Michelle Green’s 1.36 mark. Green is 16-3 on the season, while Lacey Gardner is 18-7 with a 1.75 ERA.
Tech trails the all-time series with the Bulldogs, 1-7. Georgia took both games in Athens a year ago, while the two teams split the last two games in Atlanta in 2000.
-GT-
