March 18, 2016
TAMPA, Fla. – The Georgia Tech softball team (10-14) won its fifth-straight game in a 3-2 victory against Chattanooga (15-13) in the teams’ first game at the USF Clearwater Spring Break Tournament Friday afternoon at the USF Softball Stadium.
How It Happened.
Tied 0-0, Maddie Lionberger led off the bottom of the third with a single through the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Samantha Pierannunzi. Kelsey Chisholm followed with a single, moving Lionberger to third.
Chisholm stole second and on the throw down Lionberger scored for the 1-0 lead. Katie Krzus walked and Courtney Ziese singled to load the bases with one out. Draven Sonnon drew a walk, which brought in Chisholm to make it 2-0.
The Mocs strung three hits together in the fifth inning to plate a pair of runs and tie the ballgame 2-2.
The Jackets broke the tie to go up 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Lionberger hit a double to deep left center. Pierannunzi followed with a single to move Lionberger to third and a wild pitch brought home Lionberger.
With the tying run on second and two outs in the top of the seventh, Chisholm fielded a deep ground ball on the backhand at short and fired over to first to get the final out and seal the victory.
Emily Anderson (7-9) earned her fourth-straight win, surrendering two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in a complete game effort.
Chattanooga’s reliever Jordan Fortel (5-6) suffered the loss after entering the game with the score tied 2-2 and pitching two innings with one run on three hits.
Quote
“First things first, Kelsey made a heck of a play to end the game. It was a great play by a great shortstop,” head coach Shelly Hoerner said. “That was a huge momentum play going into the next game. I thought we had production throughout the entire lineup, but we need to be even more productive with runners in scoring position.
“I thought Maddie had a great day today. She’s seeing the ball really well and has an aggressive mentality. Sam Pierannunzi continues to get on base and make things happen. Colleen and Kelsey had a great day at the plate as well; some Florida girls playing in front of some family so that was pretty cool for them.”
Quick hits
– The Jackets hit two sacrifice bunts for 23 on the season. They were second in the league heading into the weekend.
– Kelsey Chisholm went 2-for-4 with a run.
– Colleen Darragh went 2-for-3.
– Maddie Lionberger went 2-for-2 with two runs and a double.
– Samantha Pierannunzi continues a 14-game reached base streak.
– The Yellow Jackets are winners of five-straight games.
Up Next
Georgia Tech takes on USF today at 4 p.m. to wrap up day one of the USF Clearwater Spring Break Tournament.
Keep up with Yellow Jacket softball this season by following Georgia Tech Softball on Twitter at @GaTechSoftball, Instagram at @GaTechSoftball and liking Georgia Tech Softball on Facebook.
