Feb. 13, 2011
CLERMONT, Fla. – Senior Kristine Priebe had a two-run home run and senior Kristen Adkins tossed five shutout innings as the No. 18/17 Georgia Tech Softball team (5-0) hung on to defeat Fordham (1-2), 3-1, Sunday afternoon on the final day of Dot Richardson’s National Collegiate Invitational.
Priebe’s two-run home run in the third inning was the difference as Adkins and freshman Lindsey Anderson dodged trouble all afternoon. Fordham left 11 runners on base as each team had six hits. Fordham pitcher Chelsea Plimpton allowed just one Tech base runner after the third inning.
Adkins (2-0) allowed five hits in her five innings of work as she walked two and struck out nine. Anderson was credited with her first career save as she yielded one run on one hit. She walked three and struck out three.
Priebe was the only Jacket with two hits today as the other run scored on a bases loaded walk by sophomore Hope Rush in the first inning. Freshman Alysha Rudnik went 1-for-2 in the game with a walk and finished her first collegiate weekend hitting .588 with three doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBI.
Adkins got into early trouble in the first inning as she allowed the first two batters to reach base. After a pair of strikeouts, an error loaded the bases but Adkins came back to strike out Beckah Wiggins and end the inning.
In the bottom of the first, Georgia Tech loaded the bases with one out after singles by seniors Christy Jones and Kristine Priebe and a walk to freshman Alysha Rudnik. After striking out junior Danielle Dike, Fordham pitcher Chelsea Plimpton walked sophomore Hope Rush to force in the game’s first run. Plimpton did come back to retire junior Kate Kuzma and end the inning.
Fordham had a runner on third with just one out in the top of the third inning, but back to back strikeouts by Adkins got out of the jam as she ran her total up to seven through three innings.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Jackets opened up the game a bit. After Rudnik led off with a single, Priebe hit a towering two-run home run to left-center field giving the Yellow Jackets a 3-0 lead. For Priebe, it was her second home run of the season.
Fordham threatened again in the fifth as Adkins allowed a two-out single and walk, but got Gabby Luety to ground out and end the inning.
That would be Adkins’ last batter as she was relieved by freshman Lindsey Anderson for the start of the sixth inning. Anderson loaded the bases with just one out in the sixth inning, but was able to get out of the jam with just one scoring on a bases loaded walk. With the bases loaded and one out and a run in, Anderson got a pop up to Kuzma in shallow left field and a strikeout to escape any further trouble.
In the seventh, it was a much easier 1-2-3 inning for Anderson as she earned her first career save and Tech went on to the 3-1 win.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Feb. 18-20 at the Felsberg Memorial Tournament in Miami, Fla. Georgia Tech will face Illinois (1 p.m.) and host-school Florida International (5 p.m.) on Friday, Feb. 18. The next day, Tech will face Providence (10 a.m.) and Pittsburgh (Noon) before closing out the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 20 against FIU again at 1 p.m. Live audio and stats for each game is available at RamblinWreck.com.
Follow Georgia Tech Softball all season at twitter.com/GaTechSoftball and on Facebook for the most complete information.
