CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Georgia Tech softball (22-11, 8-3 ACC) earned its eighth ACC victory of the season, fighting past North Carolina (21-8, 3-5 ACC), 6-2 on Saturday night at Anderson Stadium. Sophia Voyles and Kinsey Norton kept the Tar Heel bats off balanced all night, going the whole game without allowing an earned run, as the Yellow Jackets got back into the win column.
QUICK HITS: THE TEAM
- The Yellow Jackets improve to 8-3 in ACC play, the best 11-game start to a conference season since 2012.
- It is the 250th ACC victory in program history.
- Tech improves to 6-2 in road games this season, tied for the best road record through eight games in the Morales era.
QUICK HITS: THE BATS
- Tiffany Domingue hit a solo home run in the third inning, bringing the team total to 60, already the second-most in the Morales era and just one away from matching the 2019 season (current Morales era high).
- The 60 home runs is the most through the first 33 games since 2011.
- Domingue’s home run was her 7th of the year and the 39th of her career.
- Jin Sileo delivered two RBI off a SAC fly and a double. It was her fourth mutli-RBI game of the season, one away from her career-best set back in 2022.
- Sara Beth Allen secured another two RBI day, her 10th game of the year with multiple runs driven in.
- She brought both runs home with a single up the middle in the in the fourth inning.
- Allen would hit a triple in the sixth inning, her second of the year, after not hitting a triple in any of her previous three seasons.
- Ella Edgmon came home to score on the single from Allen, her ACC-leading 37th run scored of the year.
- Edgmon leads the ACC with 18 runs scored in conference play, an average of 1.8 per game.
- Paige Vukadinovich scored twice today, bringing her season total to 14 runs scored. It was her fourth game with multiple runs scored and first-career ACC game with more than one run.
- The Jackets drew three walks today, bringing their season total to 128, the most in the ACC.
- One of those walks came from Mallorie Black, who walked with the bases loaded in the second inning for her 40th RBI of the season.
- Black and Madison Dobbins (43) become the first Yellow Jacket teammates with 40 RBI in a season since 2019, when Crosby Huckaby and Cameron Stanford accomplished it over 50+ games.
QUICK HITS: THE ARMS
- Sophia Voyles notched her fifth win of the season, going 4.0 innings and allowing only one unearned run.
- It was her 10th career victory in White & Gold.
- Kinsey Norton pitched the final three innings to earn her third save of the year. Norton has now earned five saves for her career, one away from tying Blake Neleman, among others, for the third-most in program history.
- The save from Norton tonight gave Tech six for the year. The Jacket pitching staff has now made at least six saves in three consecutive seasons for the second time in program history and the first since 2005-07.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Tech left Edgmon stranded on second in the top of the first, Voyles set the tone with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half, thanks to some strong defense from Black at third. The Jackets didn’t need to swing the bat to score in the top of the second, utilizing two walks, two hit-by-pitches, a fielders’ choice and a SAC fly to draw first blood. Jayden Gailey was hit by a pitch with one out before Vukadinovich reached on a fielders’ choice, grounding the ball to the first basemen who thought about throwing to second for the out before realizing she was too slow to catch either Gailey or Vukadinovich. Gracie Hillman walked in the next at bat to load the bases for Sileo, who flew out in foul territory down the right field line to bring home Gailey from third for the first run of the game. Edgmon got plunked to load the bases again before Black worked a walk to bring home Vukadinovich for a 2-0 Tech lead.
Voyles worked her way around a one-out walk to keep the score 2-0 heading into the third, where Domingue added what would become the game-winning run off a solo home run to center field, just getting over the center fielders’ glove to make it a 3-0 game. UNC got on the board in the third after an error and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. But Tech was equal to the task in the next inning, seizing momentum back with a two-run single from Allen to bring home Sileo and Edgmon, making it a 5-1 ballgame.
Voyles induced a double-play ball back to herself in the bottom of the inning, collecting the comebacker and firing to Domingue at second to nab the lead runner before she sent the ball to Gailey at first for the Jackets’ ACC leading 18th double play of the season. Tech scored for the fourth inning in a row in the top of the fifth after Sileo sent a pitch down the right field line for a double, bringing home Vukadinovich all the way from first.
Norton took over in the circle in the bottom of the fifth, surrendering an unearned run off a groundout, making the score 6-2 headed into the sixth. Norton would walk the first two batters in the bottom of the sixth, before getting a strikeout, a groundout and a lazy flyout to keep the Heels discouraged. In the bottom of the seventh, she would get her third strikeout of the day with runners on first and second to end the game and collect her third save of the season.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will play the rubber game of the series tomorrow at 12 p.m. The game will be live streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on X (@GTAthletics), Facebook, Instagram or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
