April 22, 2009
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Updated Stats
ATLANTA – Charlotte Morgan tossed a no-hitter, while Kelsi Dunne threw a two-hit shutout as the No. 5 Alabama softball team (40-8) swept a doubleheader from Georgia Tech (35-13), 8-0 and 10-0, Wednesday evening at Mewborn Field. Dunne tossed a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in game one, while Morgan no-hit the Yellow Jackets in the night cap. A hit batsman with two outs in the fourth inning was the only Tech base runner in game two.
Game one started off as a pitcher’s duel between Tech sophomore Kristen Adkins and Alabama’s Kelsi Dunne. In fact, neither team had a hit until the Tide scored three runs with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. After Adkins walked two batters in the inning, a RBI single up the middle by Ashley Holcombe broke the scoreless deadlock. Kellie Eubanks then followed with a bloop single over the third base bag that plated two runs and made it a 3-0 game.
Alabama then broke the game open in the top of the fifth inning. Cassandra Reilly-Boccia drew a bases-loaded walk and then back-to-back two-run singles by Holcombe and Eubanks made it an 8-0 game.
A single by senior Whitney Haller leading off the bottom of the fifth inning broke up Dunne’s no-hit bid, but the Yellow Jackets were unable to extend the game. Dunne worked around a single by senior Tiffany Johnson as well to preserve the shutout. She is now 20-2 on the season as she pitched a two-hitter with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Adkins (18-7) was charged with eight earned runs on five hits, all of which were singles. She walked seven batters and fanned five.
The two-out hits kept coming for the Crimson Tide in game two. In the top of the second inning, a two-run single up the middle by Brittany Rogers made it a 2-0 game. Alabama had runners at second and third with nobody out in the first, but Johnson was able to strike out the side. She then recorded two more punch-outs in the second inning, but the Rogers chopper over her head and into center field gave Alabama the early lead.
Eubanks continued her career day when she hit a two-out, solo home run to left field in the fourth. It was her first home run of the season and gave the Tide a 3-0 lead.
Charlotte Morgan was on cruise control for the Crimson Tide as the Yellow Jackets did not have a base runner though the first four innings. Then in the top of the fifth, the Tide broke the game wide open. A four-run inning was highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Holcombe making the score 7-0 in favor of Alabama. It was Holcombe’s fourth home run of the season.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Adkins was hit by a 0-1 Morgan pitch with two outs giving the Jackets their first base runner of the game, but sophomore Jessica Weaver grounded out to end the inning.
Another three-run homer, this time by Reilly-Boccia, made it a 10-0 game in the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Morgan retired the Jackets in order for her six-inning no-hitter. She is now 13-6 on the season.
Johnson (12-3) took the loss as she was charged with 10 runs (six earned) on seven hits. She walked five and struck out 11 batters.
20th-ranked Georgia Tech will close out the regular season home schedule this weekend when No. 12/13 North Carolina visits Mewborn Field in a crucial ACC series. The Yellow Jackets currently trail first-place UNC by one game in the loss column. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and then the series finale will be Sunday at 1 p.m.
The three Tech seniors – Whitney Haller, Tiffany Johnson and Blair Shimandle – will be honored in a pre-game ceremony at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday. All three games this weekend will be broadcast on ACC Select, while live audio and stats will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
