THE FLATS – Georgia Tech softball (10-7) completed a perfect week at Mewborn Field on Sunday, defeating Ball State 6-4 in both games of a doubleheader. The wins mark the first seven-game winning streak for the Yellow Jackets since winning nine in a row in the build up toward the 2022 NCAA Regional appearance.
QUICK HITS: THE TEAM
- Georgia Tech has now hit 34 home runs through 17 games this season, the most by any Tech team through the first 17 games in 14 seasons (37 in 2010).
- The Yellow Jackets hit two home runs today thanks to senior Mallorie Black (7th of the year) and Senior Sara Beth Allen (6th of the year).
- The multi-home run streak came to an end at 11 games, the longest in program history.
- Tech has won seven games in a row, its longest winning streak of the season and the longest since a nine-game streak in the 2022 season, the last time GT reached the NCAA Tournament.
- The Jackets have won nine consecutive games at home dating back to Feb. 11, the longest home winning streak since winning 13-straight in 2022.
- The nine-game home winning streak is the third longest in the Aileen Morales era (7 seasons).
- Tech has guaranteed itself a winning record in the current 12-game home stand, boasting a 7-0 record with five more games scheduled over the next two weeks.
- The Jackets came from behind to win both games today. Tech has come from behind in seven of its 10 victories so far, defeating opponents by an average margin of 5.7 runs, including three come-from-behind wins ending via run-rule.
QUICK HITS: THE BATS
- Black hit the only GT home run in the opening game, a three-run go ahead home run in the 4th
- It was her seventh HR of the season, tying her career-high set last year.
- She reached 7 home runs in only 16 games, the most in the opening 16 games of a season since All-American and Georgia Tech Hall of Famer Jen Yee hit 10 back in 2010.
- Black went 3 for 4 with three RBI and two runs scored in the opening game, her eighth multi-hit game of the year.
- She was walked twice in the second game, extending her on-base streak to a career-best 14 games.
- Sophomore Paige Vukadinovich saw her multi-hit streak come to an end after recording multiple hits in a career-best five games in a row.
- She leads the team with a .500 batting average so far this season, becoming the first Jacket to hit at least .500 through the first 17 games of a season since Jen Yee in 2010.
- Allen launched her sixth home run of the year and 20th of her career in the second game, a two-run go ahead blast in the fourth inning.
- The hit extended her on-base streak to 10 games, one shy of her career-long set last season.
- Junior Madison Dobbins delivered a perfect 3 for 3 performance at the plate in the second game, hitting three singles, driving in two and reaching with a walk.
- She now owns a six-game hitting streak, tied for the longest of her career, thanks to an incredible 10 for 17 showing with a team-best 12 RBI over the I-75 Challenge.
- Graduate senior Tiffany Domingue went 1 for 5 with three walks today, extending her on-base streak to 10 games.
- Junior Ella Edgmon went 3 for 7 with a pair of walks over both games today to grow her on-base streak to nine, tied for the longest of her career.
- Senior Jin Sileo swiped a pair of bases in the second game, her 10th career multi-steal game.
QUICK HITS: THE ARMS
- Tech utilized four pitchers across 14.0 innings today, combining to hold Ball State to just a .200 batting average as a team.
- Junior Sophia Voyles notched her third win of the year, striking out four batters through the first four innings of the opening game.
- Junior Kinsey Norton continued her dominant run of form, earning her third-career save and first of 2024 in the opening game.
- Norton’s final stat line for the week came to 10.0 IP with a 1.40 ERA, her first two collegiate victories and her third-career save across three appearances.
- Senior Blake Neleman cruised through four innings to begin the second game, allowing just one hit while striking out three to earn her third victory of the year and 50th career victory as a Yellow Jacket, the sixth most all-time.
- Neleman retired the Cardinals in order in the 2nd and 4th She recorded 1-2-3 innings five times over her 11.0 innings pitched throughout the weekend.
- Senior Chandler Dennis shut the door for the final three innings of the day, earning her 7th career save, tying her with Kristen Adkins for the second-most saves in program history.
HOW IT HAPPENED
vs Game 1
Ball State got off to a strong start offensively, hitting a pair of home runs in the first two innings to take a 3-0 lead. Voyles settled in from there, working her way around a dropped third strike and a HBP to deliver scoreless innings in the third and fourth. Norton entered the game to begin the fifth inning, striking out the first batter she faced and battling through the seventh inning to close out the game while allowing only run to score.
After falling behind, 3-0, the Tech bats came to life in the third as singles by Edgmon, Allen and Domingue loaded the bases for Dobbins, who laced a double into right field to drive home a pair of runs. The inning ended with the bases still loaded and Tech still behind, 3-2, only for Voyles to work a quick 10-pitch scoreless top of the 4th to keep momentum in the GT dugout. Sileo notched her second-career triple to leadoff the bottom of the inning, coming home to score, along with Edgmon, on a three-run blast by Black, putting the Jackets in front, 5-3. Black would add an insurance run in the 6th inning with some aggressive baserunning to score all the way from first on an error by the BSU third basemen.
Norton worked her way through the 7th, allowing just one run to score, sealing the win for Tech, 6-4.
vs Game 2
After surrendering a run in the opening frame, Neleman pocketed five outs in a row between the 1st and 3rd innings before retiring the Cardinals in order for the fourth, handing the ball to Dennis with a 3-1 lead. Dennis faced just eight batters through her first two innings of work, before bearing down to earn the save with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts in the seventh.
The Jackets scratched across a run in the second inning due to some incredible hustle from Sileo. The senior SS reached first on a fielders’ choice before stealing second and pulling off a delayed steal to advance to third, breaking for the base after the catcher had tossed the ball back to the pitcher. She would score on a bunt by Edgmon in the next at bat, tying the game at 1-1 through two innings.
The score would remain tied until Allen drove home Edgmon with a line drive home run in the bottom of the fourth. Tech added three insurance tallies in the sixth inning thanks to a two-run base hit from Dobbins and a bases loaded single from Bailey Chapin to go ahead, 6-1. Those runs became important in the seventh as the Jackets fought off a final inning rally from Ball State to complete the perfect week.
UP NEXT
The Jackets look to continue the winning home stand next week with a Wednesday (Feb 28) mid-week game against Mercer before the opening series of ACC play against Pitt (March 1-3) at Mewborn Field. Tickets are available at buzz.gt/SBTickets
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