BERKELEY, CALIF. – Despite clawing back from a three-run deficit, Georgia Tech softball (16-11, 4-4) came up short on Saturday afternoon, dropping game two against Cal (22-4, 5-0), 5-4.
QUICK HITS
- Sydnie Watts made her ninth start this season in the circle while Kinsey Norton made her 14th appearance of the season.
- Norton threw for a career high 5.1 pitches, surpassing her original career high for innings pitched (5.0) set against Louisville in the 2024 season.
- Paige Vukadinovich recorded her second stolen base of the season on Saturday while Ella Edgmon maintains a spotless 4-4 record on stolen bases after successfully stealing one against the Golden Bears as well.
- Vukadinovich also marked her third multi-run game of the season with two runs while Eliana Gottlieb’s two runs against Cal marked her seventh multi-run game.
- Both Vukadinovich (2) and Gottlieb (3) also had multi-hit games bringing Vukadinovich to five multi-hit games and Gottlieb to a team high eight.
- Grace Connelly recorded two RBI on Saturday, one of which was earned with her third sacrificed fly of the season. Her Saturday performance ties her for a team high five multi-RBI games alongside Gracyn Tucker and Vukadinovich.
- Tucker currently holds both the longest active hitting streak (6 games) and the longest active reached base streak (6 games). Her hitting streak is the second longest of the season behind Addison Leschber’s and Connelly’s seven game streaks. Her reached base streak is the fifth longest of the season, with Leschber’s 10-game reached base streak being the season record so far.
- This was only Tech’s third loss of the season when holding their opponent to five or less runs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Gottlieb got the Yellow Jackets on the board early as she came home from third thanks to a sacrificed fly out to center field from Connelly.
- Cal began the game with four runs on six hits in the first inning against Watts who took the circle for her fourth ACC start of the season. A home run put two runs on the board for the hosting Golden Bears before a pair of singles and a double stacked two more runs.
- Norton took over for Watts in the bottom of the second and collected her first two strikeouts of the game as she caught one batter looking and one batter swinging.
- Tech loaded the bases in the top of the third and began to chip away at Cal’s lead as Vukadinovich advanced home with Connelly’s walk. Gottlieb brought the game within one run as she safely reached home with Willer’s sacrificed fly out to right field.
- Vukadinovich tied the game with her second run of the day coming in off Gailey’s double to left field.
- Norton held Cal’s offense to its previously scored four runs for 5.0 innings and had four strikeouts going into the final half inning.
- With two runners on, the Golden Bears hit a single up the middle to bring the game winning run home from third.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech softball wraps up the series against Cal at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The final game of the series is set to be streamed on ACCNX.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech softball team, follow us on Twitter (@GaTechSoftball), Facebook, Instagram (@GaTechsoftball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
