Feb. 7, 2004
MONROE, La. – Junior pitcher Jessica Sallinger (Kennesaw, Ga.) fired her fourth career no-hitter against Louisiana-Monroe to lead the Georgia Tech softball team to a 9-0 (5 innings) win tonight at the ULM Lady Indian Softball Complex. The Yellow Jackets supplied Sallinger with plenty of offense, scoring nine runs on nine hits in just four innings of work. Tech improves to 2-0 on the season, while ULM falls to 1-3.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out early on the Lady Indians with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Tech’s Soraya Reddick (Tampa, Fla.) led off the inning with a single. Sophomore outfielder Amy Hosier (Lakewood, Colo.) then singled to right field to score Reddick who advanced to second base on a wild pitch.
Tech added two more runs in the bottom of the third inning courtesy of a two run homer by senior shortstop Tara Knudsen (Thornton, Colo.) as the Jackets led 3-0.
The Rambling Wreck offense then exploded in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring six runs on four hits. Junior second baseman Katie Donovan (Marietta, Ga.) and sophomore catcher Lauren Schlechte (St. Louis, Mo.) each had two RBI singles to push Tech’s lead to 7-0. Junior Liz Bartle (Coral Springs, Fla.) then smashed a ball over the center field fence for her first home run of the season to give the Yellow Jackets a 9-0 win.
Sallinger (1-0) ended the game with five strikeouts in five innings of work.
Leading Tech offensively were Donovan, Hosier, Knudsen and Schlechte. Donovan drove in three runs for Tech, going 1-for-2. Hosier ended the game 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Knudsen went 1-for-1 with a home run, two RBIs and two walks. Schlechte went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
The Jackets scored nine runs, on nine hits and no errors, while the Lady Indians scored no runs, on no hits and two errors.
Georgia Tech will face Kentucky (3-1) tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in game six of the Mardi Gras Classic. The Yellow Jackets will then take on No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette in the final game for Tech at 2 p.m. The Rambling Wreck and Ragin’ Cajuns are the only remaining undefeated teams in the tournament.
