April 11, 2010
ATLANTA – Sophomore Jessica Coan fired a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts as the No. 10/6 Georgia Tech Softball team (35-6, 11-1 ACC) beat Virginia (23-17, 7-4), 8-0 in five innings, Sunday afternoon at Mewborn Field. Sophomore Kate Kuzma was 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI, while junior Kristine Priebe also had a two-run home run for the Yellow Jackets.
Coan (10-1) tossed her second solo shutout of the season as she limited the Cavaliers to just two singles and a walk in five innings. With six more strikeouts in the game, Coan is now 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 13 career innings against UVA. Redshirt senior Jen Yee walked three more times and scored a pair of runs in the game, while junior Kristen Adkins and sophomore Kelsi Weseman added two hits apiece for Tech.
Melanie Mitchell started her third game of the series and the Yellow Jackets wasted no time in jumping on the scoreboard. Yee walked on four pitches and then stole second base, her 15th of the season. After moving to third base on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Kate Kuzma, Yee scored her 61st run of the season on a double down the right-field line by sophomore Kelsi Weseman. Then on the very next pitch, junior Kristine Priebe hit a two-run home run to left field making it 3-0 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. For Priebe it was her 11th round-tripper of the season.
The Jackets kept the bats going in the second inning and eventually knocked Mitchell out of the game. Junior Kristen Adkins led off the inning with a single. Later in the inning following an unintentional intentional walk to Yee, Kuzma hit a three-run home run to right-center field making it 6-0 in favor of Tech. That would also be the end of the day for Mitchell as she was relieved by Stephanie Coates.
Tech added another run in the third inning but it could have been a lot worse. Freshman pinch hitter Caitlin Jordan came up with the bases loaded and had a RBI single to make it 7-0, but Coates was able to retire both Yee and Kuzma with the sacks full to escape any further damage.
In the fifth inning, Kuzma added a RBI single with two runners on which provided the eighth run Tech needed to enforce the run rule.
Mitchell (18-13) took the loss as she was charged with six earned runs on four hits and two walks in just 1.2 innings. Coates allowed two runs and surrendered four hits and four walks.
Georgia Tech will wrap up its 12-game homestand on Tuesday, April 13, with a doubleheader against Georgia Southern at Mewborn Field. This is a make-up from a rain-out last month. First pitch in Game One will be 3 p.m. and live video, audio and stats will be available at www.RamblinWreck.com. Both games will also be broadcast on WREK, 91.1 FM.
