March 18, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 20 Georgia Tech (25-6) posted a season-high 14 runs against Charleston Southern and senior Jessica Sallinger (13-4) tossed her seventh complete-game shutout of the season in the nightcap, scattering four hits, as the Yellow Jackets defeated CSU (9-23), 14-2 (6), and Kent State (7-10), 5-0, at the UCF Softball Invitational on Friday afternoon.
Sallinger tied a season-high with 14 strikeouts against the Golden Flashes, moving into a tie for 10th all-time in the NCAA with 1,200 career strikeouts (Lisa Ishikawa-Northwestern, ’87). Sophomore Sarah Wood (6-1) threw all six innings in the opener, allowing two runs, four hits and fanned two.
In game one, Tech jumped out early on Charleston Southern with three runs in the top of the first inning. Senior Katie Donovan drove in two runs with a single to center field and junior Amy Hosier followed with a single to right field to plate Donovan.
Sophomore Caitlin Lever doubled to left field with two on to put the Jackets up 5-0 in the second inning. In the top of the third inning, sophomore Kristina Hull drove in two more runs for Tech with a double to left field, and Lever drove in the third run of the inning, as Tech led 8-0.
Sheridan drove in Hull in the top of the fifth inning to push the Jackets’ advantage to 9-0 after four-and-a-half innings of play. CSU answered with two runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning to extend the game as Robinson singled up the middle with two outs to plate two runs for the Lady Bucs as the game moved to the sixth inning with the Jackets leading 9-2.
The Jackets’ Hull, freshman Aileen Morales and Sheridan all drove in runs for Tech in the sixth inning to push the advantage to 12 runs as the Rambling Wreck upended CSU, 14-2, in six innings.
Morales finished 2-for-5, with two runs batted in and one stolen base to lead the Jackets offensively. Lever went 1-for-3, with a double and three RBIs, while Hosier and freshman Kacey Ivey finished 2-for-3 in the opener.
In the nightcap, Tech jumped out in front in the top of the first inning as Hosier drove in a run and Donovan singled in two runs to put the Jackets up 3-0.
In the fourth inning, the Yellow Jackets put runners at the corners with one out as Donovan walked, stole second and advanced to third base on an infield single by Ivey. KSU got out of the jam with a double play, courtesy of a pop put in foul ground on a hit-and-run attempt by Tech and turned the double play over at first base.
The Rambling Wreck threatened again in the fifth inning as Morales led off with a single up the middle and stole second base. She moved over to third base on a ground out by Lever, but the Jackets were unable to bring her in as KSU pitcher Erin Christopher induced a foul out to first base and tallied a strikeout to end the threat.
The Jackets tallied a fourth run of the game in the sixth inning as senior Kirin Kumar singled with two outs to left field to plate Hosier who led off the inning with a walk. Morales followed with a base hit to right field for the final run of the game to bring Kumar home as Tech held on for a 5-0 victory.
Donovan led the offensive attack in game two, going 2-for-2, with two RBIs and one walk. Morales stole two bases (22) against the Golden Flashes, ending 2-for-4 with one RBI. Kumar, Wood and Lever each had hits for the Jackets.
Georgia Tech will face Northern Illinois at 11 a.m. and tournament host Central Florida at 3 p.m. to close out round robin play on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets and UCF stand at 2-0 after the first day of competition.
-GT SOFTBALL-
