| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Wildcats | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3 |
| Georgia Bulldogs | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 8 | 10 | 0 |
On a Saturday afternoon on which both teams donned pink gear to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer, the Georgia softball team hosted Kentucky for a game televised on ESPNU. In an outing that inspired an impromptu comment thread, the Athenians secured an 8-3 victory in the Classic City.
As had been the case in Friday’s contest, the Wildcats opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. A leadoff walk and consecutive singles to the left side of the diamond plated one run, then back-to-back groundouts brought home another to stake the Blue and White to an early 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs began the bottom of the opening canto by loading the bases on a pair of walks and a fielding error, setting the stage for left fielder Megan Wiggins to score a run with a base hit. A sacrifice fly by catcher Ashley Razey tied the game, after which Georgia took the lead on a two-run double by designated player Kristyn Sandberg.
The second stanza saw two singles, a walk, and a stolen base, but no scoring, so the third frame began with the Red and Black leading 4-2 in runs and the Blue and White leading 4-2 in hits. After the Wildcats went three up and three down in the top of the inning, the Bulldogs added to their lead with a first-pitch single from Razey and a two-run shot to left field by Sandberg.
A great play by right fielder Jennie Auger negated a Kentucky single in the fourth canto, but her first-pitch groundout in the home team’s turn at the plate squandered a based-loaded opportunity. The Red and Black likewise stranded baserunners in a scoreless fifth frame, yet the Blue and White were not similarly accommodating in the top of the sixth stanza. Starter Morgan Montemayor’s first two pitches in the inning produced a single and a double, after which Alison Owen took over in the circle and surrendered the base hit that plated a run before retiring three straight batters.
Wiggins led off the bottom of the canto with the first-pitch single that gave Georgia a 9-8 edge in hits, and Razey followed that up with the first-pitch home run that gave the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead in runs. The visitors’ half of the seventh stanza started with a strikeout before Kentucky carded a couple of base hits. Owen then notched another strikeout and coaxed the game-ending flyout from the final Wildcat batter.
Winning pitcher Morgan Montemayor worked five frames in which she allowed three earned runs, while Alison Owen collected the save by contributing two innings of scoreless relief in which she fanned four and walked none. The Red and Black were led at the plate by Ashley Razey (2 for 3, 3 RBI), Kristyn Sandberg (2 for 2, 4 RBI), and Megan Wiggins (3 for 4, 1 RIWWB). Each team notched ten hits, but the Bulldogs, as usual, were too potent offensively and too solid in the circle to have to worry too much about the outcome.
Go ‘Dawgs!