THE FLATS – Georgia Tech softball (12-8, 1-1) dropped game two of the series against No. 18 Stanford (13-3, 1-1) on Saturday afternoon after a late seventh inning push from the Cardinal. Gracyn Tucker was a standout performer as she recorded her first career grand slam while Eliana Gottlieb, Alyssa Willer, and Caroline Patterson all recorded home runs as well.
QUICK HITS
- Coach Morales sits just one victory away from 200 wins as Georgia Tech softball’s head coach.
- Tucker’s grand slam in the fourth inning was the second grand slam of the year.
- Tucker’s grand slam was the first grand slam against a ranked opponent since the 2022 season when Caroline Davis recorded one against No. 16 Georgia. The sophomore’s grand slam came against the third highest ranked opponent Tech has recorded a grand slam against.
- Willer and Patterson both hit their first career home runs against the Cardinal on Saturday.
- Gottlieb recorded her second home run of the season against Stanford, bringing her to three RBI on the day.
- Seven Jackets have now recorded home runs this season with four Tech players having recorded multiple home runs.
- Addison Leschber set a new season high reached base streak for the Jackets this season as she extended her streak to 10 games. Tucker is just behind her with a personal season-high of nine games.
- Paige Vukadinovich shares Tech’s longest current hitting streak of six games with Tucker, which are the second longest hitting streaks so far this season.
- Tucker (4), Gottlieb (3), and Connelly (2) all recorded multiple RBI against Stanford on Saturday bringing Tucker to four multi-RBI games this season while Connelly now has three and Gottlieb has two.
- Gottlieb’s two hits mark her seventh multi-hit game of the season.
- Tech’s 10 runs on Saturday are now a program high against Stanford, surpassing the previous high of seven runs, set in the 2024 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Watts began in the circle for Tech and held Stanford scoreless through three innings, collecting three strikeouts on the way.
- The Jackets scored first in game two of the series as Connelly hit a sacrificed fly out to left field to advance Jayden Gailey to second, Gottlieb to third, and Emma Simon home all on the throw.
- Stanford took the lead in the top of the fourth off a three-run home run over center field, despite Watts catching the first Cardinal out swinging the play prior.
- Tech quickly responded, scoring eight runs on three hits to make the game 9-3 going into the fifth. With the bases loaded, Willer came home for the first time as Vukadinovich was walked. The Cardinal made a pitching change following Willer’s free run, but Tech came home soon after this time with Leschber reaching home this time due to Gottlieb being hit by pitch with the bases loaded. With the bases still loaded and two outs, another walk by the Cardinals pitching staff tied the game 4-4.
- Tucker reclaimed the lead for the Jackets in the fourth, with a grand slam over right center to send Connelly, Gailey, and Gottlieb home. Tucker’s grand slam was followed by Willer’s solo shot over center field which gave Tech a six-run lead.
- The fifth inning began with a solo home run over right center for the Cardinal, leading to a Yellow Jacket pitching change. Anders relieved Watts and was able to help the Tech defense get two outs before a double down the right field line would tally another run for Stanford. With two outs, Norton would be sent in to relieve Anders to help maintain Tech’s lead. Stanford scored its final run of the inning off a single through the left side before Norton got the final Cardinal out swinging.
- Stanford brought the game within one run in the sixth inning after a double and a single combined with a throwing error brought in two runs. Following the second run of the inning scored, Coffield entered the game to take over for Norton and helped Tech get the final two outs of the inning.
- The Cardinal took the lead in the top of the seventh after scoring eight runs on five hits and one error. Furniss split time with Coffield in the seventh and finished the game in the circle for Tech.
- With a full count, Patterson got the bottom of the seventh inning started with a solo home run over left field to try to chip away at the Cardinal’s lead. Gottlieb helped Tech score its final runs of the game as she hit a home run over the far-right corner of the field and brought Emma Simon home with her.
UP NEXT
Tech looks to wrap up the final game of the series against Stanford Sunday at 1 p.m. at Mewborn Field. Sunday’s contest will be streamed on ACCNX.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech softball team, follow us on Twitter (@GaTechSoftball), Facebook, Instagram (@GaTechsoftball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
