March 16, 2003
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
ATLANTA – Junior All-American Tara Knudsen hit two of the Jackets’ four home runs, and sophomore Jessica Sallinger tossed a 15-strikeout, one-hitter in game two, as the Georgia Tech softball team (18-11) swept a doubleheader from Princeton (0-2) Sunday at Glenn Field. The Jackets took game one, 8-1, and won the second, 4-0.
Knudsen hit an opposite field two-run shot to right in game one to increase the Tech lead to 7-1 over the Tigers and then put game two away with another two-run homer, this one to left field, giving Tech the 4-0 victory. Freshman third baseman Lauren Schlechte also homered in game one, while junior outfielder Soraya Reddick hit a two-run blast to left in the second game. Powered by the four homers, Tech pounded out 11 hits in game one and tied a season-high with 12 safeties in the second contest.
The Jackets also got a pair of solid pitching performances, led by Sallinger’s one-hitter. Princeton’s Kristin Leuke lead off game two with an infield single, but she would be the only baserunner of the game as Sallinger (10-7) did not allow a hit or walk the rest of the way. She fanned 15 batters and struck out the side in both the fifth and seventh innings.
In the first game, Tech starter Tiffany Goodman (1-1) settled down after allowing a first-inning run to earn her first victory of the season. She limited the Tigers to one unearned run and five hits in seven innings in just her second start of the season.
Against Goodman in game one, Princeton jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as pitcher Melissa Finley doubled to right to score Christina Cobb-Adams, who reached on an error by Knudsen. That would be the lone run of the day for the Tigers, as Goodman and Sallinger kept Princeton off the scoreboard for the final 13 innings of the doubleheader.
Tech responded with three runs of its own the bottom of the first of game one. Sophomore first baseman Katie Donovan, Schlechte and Reddick each had run-scoring singles in the frame to give the Jackets a 3-1 advantage.
The Jackets increased to lead to 7-1 in the bottom of third. Schlechte’s and Knudsen’s home runs were sandwiched around a RBI single to right by left fielder Kirin Kumar. Second baseman Felicia Coursey, who was 2-for-5, in the game drove in Reddick with a single in the sixth to provide the 8-1 final margin.
Coursey, Schlechte and designated player Lindsay Wood each had two hits in the game, while Schlechte and Knudsen each drove in a pair of runs. Coursey has now hit safely in five consecutive games and it batting .500 over the streak.
In game two, Tech’s only runs came on Reddick’s and Knudsen’s two-run homers. In addition to this pair, who had two hits each, Donovan went 3-for-3, while senior right fielder Tara Neff, was 2-for-4. Donovan was 4-for-4 on the afternoon.
Sallinger, who has won four games in a row since losing 1-0 to No. 8 California, tossed her fifth one-hitter of the season. She lowered her team-best earned run average to 1.31 and now has 152 strikeouts in 101.2 innings pitched. Sallinger now has five shutouts this season and owns seven double-digit strikeout games.
The Jackets return to action Tuesday when they host Arkansas for a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Glenn Field.
-GT-
