ATLANTA (Feb. 27) – The Georgia Tech softball team, coming off a disappointing 2-2 finish in last weekend’s Buzz Classic, will host Southwest Missouri State and Brown this week before traveling to Florida State this weekend in search of its first Atlantic Coast Conference victory.
The Yellow Jackets (17-21, 0-2 ACC) host Southwest Missouri State (15-12) at 2 p.m. Tuesday and Brown (3-4) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Glenn Field. Both teams participated in the Buzz Classic last weekend, with Southwest Missouri going undefeated in pool play before losing in the single-elimination tournament. Tech defeated Marshall, 4-2, and Tennessee Tech, 5-4, while losing to Florida A&M, 2-4, and College of Charleston, 2-1.
Georgia Tech head coach Kate Madden’s sister currently plays for Southwest Missouri State, and the school is also Madden’s alma mater, which will make Tuesday’s game special.
“It will be very exciting to play against my sister,” Madden said. “They have an excellent program.”
Tech then visits Florida State for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Jackets lost their first two ACC games last week to Maryland, 7-3 and 9-5, last Tuesday.
“Florida State has great pitching,” Madden said, “and we will need to improve our offense to beat them. We have a lot of work to do this week, but we’ll try hard in practice and hopefully get our first conference win this weekend.”
The Yellow Jackets rely heavily on senior catcher Anne Knobbe (Brea, Calif.) for that offensive production. Knobbe (.436, 14 HR, 42 RBI) added two more home runs at the Buzz Classic and continues to make a strong case for All-America honors as the ACC’s leading hitter.
The Jackets also hope to get continued production from sophomore outfielder Kori Jacobson, who is hitting .417 the past four games, and has a .358 average for the season. Freshman shortstop Lindsey Wood, who went 5 for 11 with three RBIs at the Buzz Classic, has raised her average to .263 with 16 RBI, second on the team. Senior outfielder Lauren Schwarz (Atlanta, Ga.) has a .347 average with 14 RBI.
Tech’s top two pitchers are senior righthander Jamie Smith (Salem, Ore.), 9-9 with a 3.42 ERA, and freshman Tiffany Goodman (Pleaston, Calif.), 8-12 with a 4.42 ERA.
