Feb. 26, 2002
ATLANTA – Led by the torrid hitting of sophomore shortstop Tara Knudsen and continued solid pitching, the Georgia Tech softball team (11-4, 0-0 ACC) took a pair of games from Jacksonville State Tuesday at Glenn Field. The Jackets took game one, 3-2, and won the second game, 4-3.
Knudsen’s two-out, bases-loaded single in the seventh gave the Jackets the win in the first game. With the scored tied 2-2 and two outs in the inning, left fielder Kirin Kumar singled to start the rally. After a single by second baseman Felicia Coursey, senior Jamie Frost walked to load the bases. Knudsen then singled to right center off JSU reliever Tera Ross, which scored Kumar for the victory.
For the game Knudsen was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in. She also had a RBI single in the third, scoring Coursey, who was 3-for-4 in the first game.
Sophomore Erin Voeltz (3-2) earned the win, pitching a perfect seventh inning and striking out two. Junior Tiffany Goodman was stellar until allowing a game-tying, two-run homer by left fielder Jessica Ford in the top of the seventh. She allowed just five hits and a walk in six innings.
The Jackets fell behind early in game two, as first baseman Andrea Tomey homered in the second, and catcher Christine Hochdorfer hit a two-run home run in the third, giving the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead.
Tech got a run back in its half of the third, as Knudsen blasted her team-leading fourth home run of the season to left center, making the count, 3-1.
In the fifth, Coursey singled to lead off the inning, but was thrown out, as Frost reached on a fielder’s choice. Knudsen then singled, moving Frost to second. Right fielder Soraya Reddick cleared the bases and tied the score with a double, which almost cleared the center field wall. Designated player Mimi Utt then reached on an error by the JSU shortstop, which plated Reddick and gave the Jackets a 4-3 lead.
Starter Jessica Sallinger (6-2) held the Gamecocks in check in the sixth and seventh to preserve the win. She had nine strikeouts, allowing just four hits, none of which came after the third inning.
Tech returns to action on Friday as it travels to the LSU Purple and Gold Challenge. The Jackets play UAB at 4 p.m. and the host Tigers at 6 p.m.
-GT-
