No. 11 Georgia completes series sweep of South Carolina
ATHENS, Ga. - The 11th-ranked Georgia softball team blanked South Carolina Sunday afternoon 3-0 to complete the series sweep of the Gamecocks in front of a crowd of 2,224 at Jack Turner Stadium.
Georgia climbs to 37-10 on the season and 15-5 in SEC play with one Conference series remaining (at LSU, May 5-7).
Madison Kerpics (15-5) and Shelby Walters combined for a one-hit shutout of the Gamecocks (32-15, 7-11). Walters tossed a one-hitter in Saturday's contest. Kerpics earned the win, working five and a third innings, allowing the one hit with six strikeouts. Walters pitched the final inning and two-thirds en route to her sixth save of the season.
The offense scattered six hits from six different hitters. Sydney Chambley provided the hit of the game, a two-RBI double in the fourth.
Dallis Goodnight drew a leadoff walk in the third and stole second to put herself in scoring position. The speedy Goodnight came around to score on a base hit through the left side past a diving shortstop off the bat of Sara Mosley to put Georgia in front 1-0.
A leadoff Sydney Kuma single and a walk to Jaydyn Goodwin put two on. Both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball. In a pinch-hit opportunity, Chambley dropped a double down the left field line to drive in both runners and widen the lead to 3-0 after four innings.
The 3-0 UGA lead held as the Bulldogs swept the series against South Carolina.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On Sunday's game...
"I'm really proud of our team proud of the competitiveness over the course of the weekend. Proud of our pitching staff just commanding the ball; back-to-back one hitters is certainly going to put you in a position to win. And when I tell you, [South Carolina's Donnie Gobourne] is as good as anybody in the country and I thought we competed against her really well. We just found ways to create pressure and ultimately get some timely hits, and that's what it takes. I thought our defense was really sharp after we got off to a rocky start yesterday in the first inning, but since then we've played really solid and that's what it takes to win as we keep moving forward. It's just being solid and competitive on all three sides of the ball."
On the crowd...
"It was an unbelievable weekend. Over 6,000 fans were in attendance over the three games. I think it's the fourth largest crowd ever today. I'm thankful for Bulldog Nation being out here and supporting us and hopefully we can get them back out here again."
Up Next
Georgia welcomes in-state foe Mercer to Athens Wednesday in the 2023 regular-season home finale. Wednesday's 7 p.m. game will air live on SEC Network.