THE FLATS – Georgia Tech softball (10-7) capped their week with a sweep of the Dayton Flyers (5-4) on Sunday at Mewborn Field. The final contests of the I-75 Tournament saw wins in the circle for Makayla Coffield and Sydnie Watts while the Jackets racked up a combined 19 runs on 20 hits, one of which was the first grand slam of the season.
QUICK HITS
- Watts manned the circle for Tech for all 5.0 innings of game two against Dayton and threw 40 strikeouts out of a total 51 pitches thrown and recorded a career high six strikeouts against 16 batters faced.
- Eliana Gottlieb launched the first grand slam of the season out of Mewborn Field in game two of the day against Dayton. Her grand slam is the first for Tech softball since Mallorie Black’s 16th home run of the 2024 season against Louisiana Tech.
- Maddie Furniss made her first career start in the circle for Tech in game one of the day against Dayton.
- Jayden Gailey had her fourth two hit performance of the season, bringing her to a team high six multi-hit games while Gottlieb had her fifth with two hits in game one as well. Gracyn Tucker’s two hits in game two marked her second two hit game of the season, her third multi-hit game overall.
- Gottlieb recorded her first multi-RBI game of the season with four RBI in game two, which was the second most single game RBI this season just behind Willer’s five RBI performance against Troy on Wednesday.
- Vukadinovich earned her third multi-RBI game of the season while Addison Leschber and Lillian Martineau each recorded their second multi-RBI game of the season, all with two RBI respectively.
- 10 Jackets recorded runs on Sunday with Leschber and Patterson leading the team with three runs each against Dayton.
- This was Tech’s second 15 run win of the season with the first being against Bradley in the Snowman Tournament last week (15-1). Tech has scored double digit games three times now season (12-8 vs. SIU; 15 -1 Bradley).
- Sunday’s wins make Tech 2-0 in the overall series against the Dayton Flyers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game one
- Maddie Furniss started in the circle for Tech and threw 39 pitches across 1.2 innings.
- Dayton scored three runs in the top of the second off a Flyer double, but those three runs would the only runs the Flyers would score all day.
- Coffield was called in to relieve Furniss in the circle in the top of the second with two outs and would go on to pitch the remaining 5.1 innings.
- Despite a scoreless third and fourth inning, The Yellow Jackets brought the game within one run after a Vukadinovich triple through the left side that advanced Patterson and Leschber.
- Vukadinovich scored the tying run thanks to a single from Gailey.
- With the game tied at the bottom of the seventh and one out on the board for the Yellow Jackets, Tucker’s first hit of the day was a double to left field that advanced both Connelly to third and Martineau home for the game winning run.
Game two
- Watts manned the circle for Tech for all 5.0 innings of game two against Dayton and faced 16 batters.
- Tech took the lead early in game two with Gottlieb scoring first off Gailey’s double down the left field line before Gailey came home off of Willer’s sacrificed fly.
- After a scoreless second inning for both teams, Tech’s offense was unstoppable in the third inning, posting 13 runs for a 15-0 lead.
- Connelly got Tech’s 13 run inning started as she came home off of Willer’s single as well as an error on the Dayton left fielder. Willler came home shortly after with Tucker in town thanks to a Leschber single to right side that forced a pitching change before the Jackets’ bats could do more damage.
- With a new arm in the circle and the bases loaded, Gottlieb stepped up and hit a grand slam over the right field wall.
- Edgmon added one run to Tech’s seven run total, coming home off of a single to center field from Tucker.
- Tucker scored her second run of the inning after the Dayton pitcher walked Patterson, Willer, and Leschber.
- Martineau was called on to pinch hit for Simon and slammed a double that advanced both Leschber and Willer home.
- Patterson rounded out Tech’s 15 total runs as she scored off Vukadinovich’s double to left field.
- The freshman right hand pitcher had a near perfect and fell just short as Dayton hit a single through the right side. The Flyer’s seventh inning single was Dayton’s first hit since the second inning of game one.
UP NEXT
Tech continues its 14-game homestand welcoming Kennesaw State for a single game on Feb. 25 at 5 pm before opening its ACC slate with a three-game series against Stanford Feb. 28- March 2 at Mewborn field.
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.
