THE FLATS – Senior Sara Beth Allen has been named the best utility player in the country by Softball America in its recent position rankings for the month of March. Allen, who has played as DP and catcher this season with experience in RF as well, has been a consistent power threat at the top of the lineup for Georgia Tech (15-7, 3-0 ACC) this year, leading the conference in slugging pct. (.983) and OPS (1.597).
Allen connected for her eighth home run in last night’s win over Jacksonville State, extending her career-best on-base streak to 15 games. She came around to score three times in the win, tying her career-best for a single game while also setting a new career-high for runs in a single season (25) after playing in less than half of the games she needed to set it last year.
The Jackson County, Ga. product has excelled at getting on base by any means necessary, owning the second most walks (18) and the second most hit-by-pitches (7) in the ACC, leading to her .614 on-base pct., the 6th highest in Division I.
She is slashing .463 avg/.633 obp/1.098 slugging over her current 15-game on-base streak, including her first-career triple at the Clearwater Invitational against Northwestern. The slugger has reached base with hits (19) as often as she has by walks (13) and HBPs (6) over that stretch while still driving in 18 runs thanks to seven home runs.
Allen and the Jackets are headed out on the road after achieving the longest undefeated homestand in program history last night (12-0), defeating Jacksonville State for the 12th win in a row and 14th consecutive home victory. Tech begins a three-game ACC series at NC State (14-5, 1-2 ACC) tomorrow before playing in the annual Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate game at UGA on March 13, in Athens, Ga.
The Jackets have hit 45 home runs this season, the most among Power 5 teams and tying the 2010 Yellow Jackets for the most home runs through 22 games in program history. The Jackets have now hit at least one home run in 18 consecutive games, the longest streak since the 2011 season.
As a team, the Jackets lead the ACC in runs (167), home runs (45), RBI (154) total bases (397), slugging % (.686) and double plays turned (11).
Individually, Sara Beth Allen leads in the ACC in OPS (1.597). Mallorie Black and Allen are top two the conference in runs scored (27 and 25 respectively). Dobbins leads the conference in home runs (9) and in RBI (33). Black, Allen and Dobbins hold the top three positions in total bases this year (63, 57 and 56 respectively) while Allen leads the conference in slugging (.983).
The trio of Dobbins (9), Black (8) and Allen (8) have combined for 25 home runs this season, a total that would be the second most in the ACC and the 15th most across Division I, more than every other conference competitor expect for Virginia Tech (40).
Allen becomes the fourth Yellow Jacket on the Softball America Top 10 position lists, joining Mallorie Black who was named the 2nd best 3B in the sport on Tuesday, Tiffany Domingue who was named the 10th best 2B in the sport yesterday and Madison Dobbins, who was named the 10th best outfielder earlier today.
2024 SOFTBALL TICKETS
Georgia Tech softball single-game tickets are now on sale and can be purchased HERE.
Single-game tickets are available as detailed below. More ticketing information can be found on the official Georgia Tech Softball Tickets page.
Single-Game Pricing:
Reserved Chairback: $5
Adult GA Bench: $3
Standing room only tickets will be sold for $2 each if all other sections are sold out. Georgia Tech students and faculty/staff can receive free admission to regular season home games while seats remain available by showing a valid BuzzCard at the entrance.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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