April 9, 2012
By Jon Cooper
Sting Daily
– Sunday was a beautiful day to be around Georgia Tech Softball.
At Mewborn Field a nice crowd saw the Yellow Jackets continue their dominance over Maryland, winning, 5-0, to record their 20th straight win over the Terrapins. Tech has never lost to Maryland under Head Coach Sharon Perkins.
Adding to the beauty were the good feelings surrounding the field on “Pink Day.” The annual game marked the end of nearly a month of fundraising by the Yellow Jackets Softball Team, with all the proceeds going to help former Tech softball player Amy Hosier, who is battling Stage 2-A breast cancer.
“I thought we had a really good turnout today, especially since it was Easter Sunday,” said winning pitcher Hope Rush. Rush earned her 18th win of the season Sunday, throwing a four-hit shutout (her seventh whitewash of the season), her 22nd complete game and second of the weekend (she allowed one run in a complete-game, five-hit effort in the series’ first game on Saturday). “You could tell there was a very positive atmosphere today. Maybe with it being Easter Sunday, but it was a very positive atmosphere.”
Both the game and the fundraising effort were smashing successes.
On the field, the Jackets won their ninth straight ACC game and eighth straight overall. Rush said there’s no secret to the Jackets’ success over the Terrapins.
“We played great throughout weekend, on offense and defense,” said Rush, (18-10), who allowed four hits and walked five, but didn’t allow a Maryland runner to reach third base. “We got the job done.
`We don’t really look at it like, ‘We’re 14-0 coming to the weekend.’ We have to go out there and play our game,” she added. “We give them our best game. I don’t think we ever look at, ‘Oh, it’s Maryland. Oh, it’s whoever.’ We don’t care who we’re playing. We just go out and play our game.”
Offensively, Tech took advantage of the wildness of Maryland pitcher Kendra Knight (13-10), who gave up only three hits — an Alysha Rudnik RBI triple in the fifth, and infield single and a Rush RBI single in the sixth — but also issued nine free passes, and hit four other batters with pitches. Four of the five runs reached base via walk or hit-batsman.
Perhaps the generosity spilled over from the Easter Day crowd.
On Sunday, alone, the Jackets raised $1,250 dollars. That total, bolstered by $250 kicked in by the Georgia Tech Women’s Tennis Team, doubled the total raised for the month, which finished in the neighborhood of $2,500!
For Rush, being able to participate in Pink Day has become a special part of every season. She, like so many, knows someone whose life has been altered by the dreaded disease. This year’s effort, her third, was even more special, however, with the proceeds going to Hosier.
“Absolutely it was,” she said. “I might not have played with her, I may not know her personally but she’s part of the Georgia Tech Softball family. That makes it hit home a lot more when it’s one of your former Georgia Tech Softball players.”
While Georgia Tech Softball’s month of fundraising is over, Amy Hosier’s fight is not. Those who wish to help Hosier in her on-going battle can visit www.amysangels21.com.
