Feb. 19, 2010
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Post-Game Interview With Kelsi Weseman (2/19/10)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Sophomore Kelsi Weseman had two home runs, including a game-winning grand slam, as the No. 10/9 Georgia Tech Softball Team (6-0) came from behind to win two games Friday at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. The Yellow Jackets overcame a 5-0 deficit to beat No. 21/21 Northwestern (2-4) in the first game 9-6 and then won a wild 10-9, eight-inning thriller with BYU (7-1). In the second game, Tech lost a 5-0 lead and was down 6-5 in the sixth.
Weseman had two home runs and six RBI on the day, while redshirt senior Jen Yee was on base seven times with two singles, a home run, three runs scored, three RBI, four walks and two stolen bases. Junior Kristen Adkins went 3-for-6 with a home run, two walks and four runs scored and freshman Hope Rush (4-0) won both games for the Yellow Jackets. Against Northwestern, she pitched a complete game and then picked up a win against BYU with two innings of scoreless relief. At the plate, she was 4-for-9 with a double and two RBI. Georgia Tech hit six home runs on the day as junior Jessica Weaver and sophomore Jessica Sinclair also went deep.
Northwestern built a 5-0 lead after an inning and a half against Rush. The big blow came off the bat of Adrienne Monka, who hit a three-run home run in the second inning.
Tech began to chip away in the third inning against Northwestern All-American pitcher Lauren Delaney as it plated three runs. Junior Caroline Hilton got hit by the first pitch of the inning and then freshman pinch runner Kelly Delashmit went to second base on a wild pitch. After a ground out, Delashmit scored Tech’s first run of the game on a RBI single by Yee. Later in the inning, Weseman reached on an error and then a RBI single b Rush made it a 5-2 game. Weseman scored the third run on a wild pitch.
A RBI single by Monka made it a 6-3 game in the top of the fourth, but Adkins’ second home run of the season in the bottom half of the frame made it a 6-4 game.
It stayed that way until Tech’s game-deciding five-run fifth. Junior Kristine Priebe led off the inning with a walk and moved up a base on an Adkins single. Freshman Caitlin Jordan then followed with her first career hit, a single to left-center loading the bases. Delaney was relieved by Meghan Lamberth, but she hit Weaver to force in Tech’s fifth run. After Lamberth retired Yee for the second out of the inning, Weseman crushed a 2-1 pitch over the fence in center field for the grand slam which out Tech up 9-6.
Rush got a 1-2-3 seventh inning to preserve the come-back win for the Jackets.
The second game against BYU was scoreless for the first three innings, but was wild for the final five. Tech exploded for five runs in the top of the fourth inning on the strength of three home runs. Sinclair went deep on the first pitch of the inning and then Weaver and Yee each added two-run shots later in the inning.
BYU began to chip away and just like that the Cougars had a 6-5 lead after five. Delaney Willard had a two-run homer in the fourth and then Andrea Ramirez added a three-run shot in the fifth. Sophomore Jessica Coan relieved Adkins in the fifth inning and was able to get out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam.
Tech re-took the lead with a two-out, two-run home run off the bat of Yee in the sixth and then added two insurance runs in the seventh courtesy of two BYU errors.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, BYU came right back however as Amanda Vance-Kellum blasted a game-tying, three-run home run. Rush then entered the game in relief of Coan and sent the game to extra innings.
With the international tie-breaker rule in effect, Tech quickly had the bases loaded and no outs. A RBI single by Rush gave the Jackets the lead at 10-9, but BYU pitcher Paige Affleck got out of the jam without any more runs scoring.
The one run was enough for Rush though. After a bunt moved the runner over to third, Rush closed out the game with back-to-back strikeouts to earn the win.
The Louisville Slugger Desert Classic continues through Sunday in Las Vegas, Nev. On Saturday, Georgia Tech will face Hawai’i at 2:15 p.m. (ET) and then Long Beach State at 4:30 p.m. (ET). On Sunday, the Yellow Jackets will take on No. 11/10 California at Noon (ET). Live audio and stats for every game can be found at www.RamblinWreck.com.
