Lakewood, N.J. - The Georgian Court University softball squad conducted its annual Senior Day celebration before Thursday's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference twin-bill vs. Wilmington University as the Lions recognized
Jaqueline Coulahan and
Cassie Varvaro during a pre-game ceremony, which included teammates and family.
The afternoon went downhill from there as the visiting Wildcats shredded GCU, 12-3 (5 inn.) and 11-3 (6 inn.), to secure the sweep.
Wilmington (32-14, 18-4 CACC) brought in a pair of runs in both the first and second frames of the opener to take a quick 4-0 lead. That was until National Player of the Year finalist,
Samantha Reilly, cut the deficit to one with a three run-bomb into the trees beyond the left-field wall, bringing around teammates
Malia Black (double) and
Caitlin Hughes (walk). The shot marked the 20th of the year for the Georgian Court slugger.
That would be the end of the GCU offense for the remainder of the contest as Wilmington waltzed to a seven-spot in the fourth frame to take an insurmountable 11-3 advantage, and eventually the 12-3 "W".
Makayla McCarthy (15-8) mastered the Lions' lineup for a majority of the game, going the distance (5.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) in the victory.
Jessica O'Neil suffered the loss in the start for GCU (3.2 IP, 11 R, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K).
Both clubs plated a pair of tallies in the first inning, resulting in a 2-2 stalemate that would hold strong through four full. Wilmington imploded the tie with five runs in the fifth, and four more in the six, to coast to an 11-3 triumph.
Caitlyn Whiteside (16-6) limited the Lions to three hits in the complete-game win (6.0 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K) while O'Neil (15-9) was saddled with the loss (1.0, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, BB) after yielding a go-ahead grand slam to 3B
Lauren Lopez in the fifth.
Georgian Court (26-21, 15-8 CACC) closes out the 2018 regular season on Saturday at 3pm vs. Concordia College. The doubleheader will now be played on the Lakewood campus due to poor playing conditions on the Concordia diamond.