April 17, 2011
ATLANTA – A walk-off RBI single by freshman Ashley Thomas gave the No. 23/22 Georgia Tech softball team (37-8, 11-1 ACC) a 3-2 win over North Carolina (27-19, 9-6) Sunday afternoon at Mewborn Field. Thomas was 3-for-4 with two RBI in the game as the Yellow Jackets completed the weekend sweep of the Tar Heels and opened a commanding lead in the ACC race.
Senior Chirsty Jones was 2-for-3 as well for Tech while freshman Alysha Rudnik blasted her 15th home run of the season. Senior Kristen Adkins (17-5) out-dueled UNC freshman ace Lori Spingola (21-13) as she took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and gave up two earned runs on four hits. Adkins walked two and struck out one.
Scoring chances were few and far between for both teams but the Yellow Jackets finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning against Spingola. Freshman Alysha Rudnik led off the inning with a solo home run off the scoreboard in left field, her 15th of the season. Later in the inning, freshman Ashley Thomas ripped a RBI single down the right field line as sophomore pinch runner Kelly Delashmit slid home safely to put Tech up 2-0.
In the top of the sixth, Elisha Elliott led off with a blooper into center field. Tech senior Christy Jones made a diving attempt and nearly came up with the ball but it fell for a leadoff double and was the first hit allowed by Adkins. Later in the inning, Haleigh Dickey hit a two-run home run over the fence in right field to tie the game at two.
The Yellow Jackets had runners at first and second with one out in the sixth inning, but Spingola came back to strike out both Rudnik and junior Jessica Sinclair to send the game to the seventh still tied at two.
With a runner at second and two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Brittany Robinson hit a soft single to left field. Junior Kate Kuzma came up throwing and was able to nail the runner coming home as senior Jessica Weaver blocked the plate and ended the inning still tied at two.
Weaver was hit by a pitch to begin the seventh inning. After a bunt single by Jones, Thomas lined a single up the middle and Weaver raced around to score the winning run as Tech completed the series sweep.
The Yellow Jackets hit the road again for an ACC series at Virginia, April 22-23. Tech and UVA will play a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 22, and then close out the series the following day at Noon. Live audio and stats will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
Follow Georgia Tech Softball all season at www.Twitter.com/GaTechSoftball and on Facebook.
