LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Nationally ranked Georgia Gwinnett College and Truett-McConnell University split a pair of one-run games Tuesday afternoon at the Grizzly Softball Complex. The No. 3-ranked Grizzlies took the opener 6-5 before the No. 20-ranked Bears answered with a 5-4 victory.
GGC (15-5) took a 6-0 lead after four innings in the opener and held off a furious rally by Truett-McConnell (13-5). The Bears scored two runs in the sixth inning and added three more runs in the top of the seventh inning.
The Bears’ Macey Dunaway hit a RBI single to right field to cut the deficit to 6-5. However, Alisha Price was thrown out at third base by junior RaeQuinn Rossetti to end the contest.
Junior Sydney Willhite connected on a run-scoring double to cap a four-run third inning in the opener. She added a bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning of the second game, when three GGC errors in the top of the fourth inning allowed three runs to score.
Truett-McConnell’s Briley Lawson would give the visitors the lead for good with a two-run home run in the sixth inning. A RBI single from GGC senior Aubree Cox in the bottom half of the frame trimmed the margin to one run, 5-4.
TMU’s Karley Hobbs retired the Grizzlies in order in the bottom of the seventh to improve her record to 8-0 in the pitching circle. The loss was the first home setback for GGC after seven straight victories.
Turning Point
After GGC had tied the second game behind a three-run fifth inning, Truett-McConnell regained the lead with an opposite field two-run home run from Briley Lawson in the top of the sixth inning. The Bears would hold onto the lead and win the game 5-4.
Key Plays
First Game
Bottom of Third
Elyssa Melton scored the game’s first run when a fly ball was dropped in shallow center field
Holly Janco hit a RBI single that brought home Aubree Cox
Sydney Willhite connected on a run-scoring double to give GGC an early 4-0 lead
Bottom of Fourth
Aubree Cox brought home Piper Wagner with a RBI single up the middle
Holly Janco’s RBI ground out gave the home team a 6-0 advantage
Top of Seventh
Sarah Wills hit a sacrifice fly to bring the Bears within two runs, 6-4
Macey Dunaway singled to right field to bring home another run, but Alisha Price is thrown out by the GGC defense at third base to end the contest
Second Game
Top of Fourth
Two runs scored on a dropped fly ball, with two outs, to give Truett-McConnell a 3-0 lead
Bottom of Fifth
Sydney Willhite cleared the bases with a three-run triple to tie the contest
Top of Sixth
Briley Lawson hit a two-run home run over the right field fence as the Bears regained the lead, 5-3
Bottom of Sixth
Aubree Cox cut the deficit, 5-4, with a run-scoring single
Inside The Numbers
- Truett-McConnell outhit GGC by a 17-to-13 margin across the two games
- Six of the Bears’ runs were unearned in the doubleheader
- The two teams combined for 12 errors in the games
- GGC pitchers combined for nine strikeouts
News & Notes
- GGC stands 15-5 on the season; Truett-McConnell is now 13-5 this spring
- Georgia Gwinnett College was ranked No. 5 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll; Truett-McConnell stood No. 20 in the same poll
- Both games were decided by one-run margins
- GGC is now 7-1 at the Grizzly Softball Complex this season
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College hosts Ave Maria University (Fla.) on Wednesday, March 6, at 2 p.m. at the Grizzly Softball Complex.