THE FLATS – Georgia Tech softball (19-13, 7-5 ACC) came up short at home on Wednesday, dropping the midweek non-conference contest against Mercer (18-16, 1-2 SoCon), 8-5.
QUICK HITS
- Freshman Maddie Furniss made her third start of the season, 10th appearance overall this season.
- Grace Connelly recorded her fourth multi-hit game of the season after slamming two hits on Tuesday.
- Connelly also recorded her sixth multi-RBI game of the season with her three RBI against Mercer.
- Alyssa Willer recorded her seventh game of the season scoring multiple runs with the two runs she scored on Tuesday.
- Gracyn Tucker’s performance against the Bears set a new longest reached base streak as the third baseman extended her streak to 11 games, surpassing the previous longest streak of 10 games, set by Addison Leschber.
- Against the Bears, the Jackets batted .333 percentage, compared to Mercer’s .125 percent with two outs.
- Tech’s pitching staff also held a higher strike percentage in comparison to Mercer’s pitchers, boasting a 64.0% strike percentage next to the Bears’ 56.2%.
- Tuesday’s loss to Mercer is Tech’s first loss to the Bears since the 2013 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Furniss began in the circle for Tech and pitched 1.0 innings for the Jackets.
- Mercer scored early, posting four runs in the first inning off of two Tech errors and two hits before a ground out left one Bear on base.
- The Jackets responded quickly as Connelly’s double to right center brought Tucker, Gailey, and Willer home, bringing the game within one run.
- Watts relieved Furniss to begin the second inning and faced five batters in her 0.1 innings pitched.
- The freshman was relieved by Norton after Mercer scored one run in the second as a result of a hit batter with the bases loaded. In relief, Norton immediately got the final two outs of the inning, catching both batters swinging.
- After a scoreless third inning for both teams, a pair of double stacked two runs for Mercer, forcing Tech to trail 7-3.
- Singles from Caroline Patterson and Leschber put the Jackets in scoring position just before Vukadinovich was up to bat. Vukadinovich slammed a double to center field to send Leschber running home.
- The Bears scored their final run of the game in the top of the fifth as a pair of doubles brought one run in.
- Voyles relieved Norton to start the top of the sixth and would go on to finish the game in the circle for Tech.
- Leschber scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth after being hit by pitch with the bases loaded.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech softball remains at Mewborn Field to host OSU and Penn State Thursday – Sunday for a Bye Weekend Tournament.
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.
