April 11, 2005
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ATLANTA – The 21st-ranked Georgia Tech (38-9) softball team will travel to Athens for a non-conference game against archrival No. 10 Georgia (39-8) this Wednesday, April 13. The single game is slated for 6 p.m. at the UGA Softball Complex and can be followed on www.ramblinwreck.com.
“Georgia has some very talented players and Wednesday will be a great challenge for our team,” said head coach Ehren Earleywine. “They really have no glaring weaknesses. They pitch, hit, hit for power, and have a few girls who can really run. We will have to play near perfect if we want to win.”
The Yellow Jackets lead the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 9-2 record, while UGA leads the Southeastern Conference with a record of 20-1. Both teams are hitting over .300 and are averaging over five runs per game.
“My biggest concern is that not all of our team understands the depth of the rivalry between the two schools,” said Earleywine. “We have several new out-of-state players, and transfers, who haven’t been here long enough to get the full effect of the rivalry. If we can overcome that, we’ll be very competitive with them.”
The Bulldogs lead the series 12-5 heading into Wednesday’s game. The Yellow Jackets dropped two of three games to UGA last season, including a split with the Bulldogs in the NCAA Athens Regional.
UGA will be the second opponent Tech has played this season inside the Top 10. The Jackets dropped a 4-1 decision to current No. 1 Michigan on Feb. 25, at the Leadoff Classic, in Columbus, Ga.
Jessica Sallinger continues to lead the ACC in wins (20) and earned run average (0.88). The senior from Kennesaw, Ga., became the second ACC pitcher to reach 100 career wins and currently has 101, needing just seven more to become the all-time winningest pitcher in the conference. Sallinger is already the ACC Career Strikeout Leader (1,295) and is seventh all-time in the NCAA.
Junior Christine Sheridan leads the offensive attack for the Yellow Jackets. Sheridan, a native of Pasadena, Md., is hitting a conference best .414, and has eight doubles, four home runs and 26 runs batted in.
Freshman Aileen Morales broke the single-season school record in stolen bases last weekend and currently has 35. Morales, a native of Columbus, Ga., has only been thrown out three times this season and is hitting .311 in the leadoff spot for Tech.
Michelle Green and Kim Wendland lead No. 10 Georgia. Green is 18-2 in the circle, with a 0.89 earned run average, and has 207 strikeouts in 133 1/3 innings pitched. Wendland leads the team in batting average (.419) and RBI (45), and has homered 11 times this year.
-GT SOFTBALL-
