March 22, 2011
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ROCK HILL, S.C. – Senior Kristine Priebe went 5-for-8 with two home runs and eight RBI as the Georgia Tech softball team (25-5) swept a doubleheader from Winthrop (7-20) on Tuesday night. After cruising to a 12-2 win in game one, Georgia Tech scored 10 unanswered runs over the final three innings for a win in the second game. The Yellow Jackets had 22 hits and seven home runs on the night.
Senior Kristen Adkins (11-2) got the win in game one as she allowed two runs (both unearned) on four hits and one walk in six innings. She fanned four. In the night cap, sophomore Hope Rush (10-3) got the win as she allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks in five innings.
Junior Jessica Sinclair had two home runs as well for Tech, while freshman Alysha Rudnik, junior Shannon Bear and sophomore Hope Rush also went deep for the Jackets who have now hit 57 round-trippers in 30 games this season.
In game one, the Yellow Jackets got on the board first as sophomore Hope Rush drove in a couple of runs with a single up the middle in the top of the second inning. Junior Kelsi Weseman, who led off the inning with a walk, and senior Kristine Priebe, who singled, scored on the Rush hit.
Georgia Tech added two more runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Junior Shannon Bear led off with a double and then scored when Weseman reached on a double error. Her ball to the right side went through first baseman Kathryn Eberlin and then when the throw home by right fielder Teya Durante went into the dugout, Weseman was awarded third base and Bear scored. Priebe followed with a RBI single making it a 4-0 game.
Tech added a run in the fifth when junior Jessica Sinclair opened the frame with a line drive home run to dead center field. For Sinclair, it was her seventh homer of the season.
Winthrop had its first threat of the game as two Tech errors put two on with one out for Kelly Blea in the fifth. Adkins got her to line to freshman Alysha Rudnik at third base and Rudnik then picked a runner off at second for the Yellow Jackets’ third double play of the game.
Tech tacked on three more in the sixth as Rudnik and Sinclair homered. For Rudnik it was her sixth homer of the season while Sinclair’s two-run shot was her second of the game and eighth of the season.
The Eagles prevented the Jackets from ending the game early as they scored a couple of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 8-2 but Tech took advantage by adding four runs in the top of the seventh to make it 12-2. Weseman drove in a run with a single to right and then Priebe added a three-run homer to right field, her ninth of the season.
Freshman Lindsey Anderson pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh with a pair of strikeouts as the Yellow Jackets went on to the 12-2 win in game one.
In game two, Winthrop struck first with an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning and then pitcher Ashleigh Jackson helped herself out with a RBI single in the third as the Eagles took a 2-0 lead to the fourth inning.
Winthrop then added two more runs in the fourth as Megan Chapman hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs giving the Eagles a 4-0 lead.
The Tech bats woke up in the top of the fifth inning as they answered with six runs. With the bases loaded, junior Kate Kuzma laid down a successful squeeze for the first run and then two batters later, Weseman walked on four pitches making it a 4-2 game with two outs.
After a meeting in the circle, Priebe launched the first pitch she saw over the fence in left field for a grand slam and just like that, Tech had its first lead of the game at 6-4. It was Priebe’s second grand slam of the season and 10th homer of the season.
Georgia Tech blew the game open in the top of the seventh inning with four more runs. Bear and Rush each hit home runs and Rudnik added a RBI ground out. The home run for Rush was her team-high 11th of the season while Bear added her eighth.
The Yellow Jackets now return home to open up Atlantic Coast Conference play against NC State this weekend at Mewborn Field. The Yellow Jackets and Wolfpack will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and then conclude the three-game series Sunday at Noon. With a large track meet being held on campus this weekend, fans are encouraged to use the Peter’s Parking Deck. Live video, audio and stats will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
Saturday will be the team’s annual Strikeout for the Cure game as Tech has partnered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Saving Second Base, LLC to raise money for breast cancer research. Donations will be taken throughout the day and there will also be special pink merchandise for sale including hats, t-shirts and visors. Special raffles will be going on throughout the day and prizes include an opportunity to throw out the first pitch at next month’s Georgia game, a pink Ipod Shuffle, a pink helmet autographed by the entire team and a pink softball signed by head coach Sharon Perkins. The team will be wearing special pink jerseys on Saturday and the ones the seniors wear will be auctioned off on RamblinWreck.com next week.
Follow Georgia Tech Softball all season at www.Twitter.com/GaTechSoftball and on Facebook.
