April 19, 2014
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Georgia Tech softball team dropped a pair of games Saturday at Pittsburgh, 4-3 and 3-1. The Yellow Jackets fell to 21-20 on the season and 10-14 in ACC play, while the Panthers improved to 15-24 overall and 6-14 in conference action. The series finale is set for Sunday at 12 p.m.
Game 1: Pitt 4, Georgia Tech 3
The Yellow Jackets out-hit the Panthers 8-7 in the opening game. Georgia Tech starter Kylie Kleinschmidt struck out eight Pitt batters and freshman Samantha Pierannunzi extended her hitting streak to nine games.
In a back and forth battle, Pitt got on the board first as Tori Nirschl rocked a two-out triple to left field in the bottom of the first and scored on a single up the middle from Maggie Sevilla.
Tech countered and took the lead in the top of the third inning. Ashley Thomas singled and reached second on a Pitt miscue. Hayley Downs’ groundout moved Ashley Thomas to third, and Alysha Rudnik drew her second walk of the game and stole second.
Kanani Cabrales stepped to the plate with two outs and drilled a 3-1 pitch to right center to score both runners, and give Georgia Tech a 2-1 lead.
Kleinschmidt got into a bases loaded jam with one out in the bottom of the third. She fanned the clean-up hitter Sevilla to make it two outs, but Carissa Throckmorton lined one through the right side to score two more.
Pitt tacked on an additional run in the fifth inning to take a two-run lead, 4-2, and the Jackets rallied for a run in the top of the seventh but it wasn’t enough.
Kleinschmidt (13-11) absorbed the loss, spraying seven hits and allowing four runs, two earned.
Alexa Larkin (7-8) held on for the win going 3.1 innings with two runs on five hits. Reliever Savannah King was credited with her fourth save this season, tossing the remaining 3.2 innings with one run on three hits.
Game 2: Pitt 3, Georgia Tech 1
Rudnik kicked off game two with a two-out full-count bomb over the centerfield wall for her team-leading 10th home run of the season.
Pierannunzi expanded her hitting streak to 10 games with a leadoff double in the second, but the Jackets fell 1-2-3, stranding her on second.
Pitt took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Pinch hitter Taylor Henry singled in Kaila Balatgek and Ashlee Sills scored on a Georgia Tech miscue. Henry scored on a single through the right side courtesy of Jordan Fannin to give Pitt a 3-1 advantage.
Cabrales (7-9) suffered the loss with three runs, one earned, on eight hits in 4.0 innings pitched.
Pitt’s King (8-16) earned the win, pitching 4.0 innings with two hits and no runs.
