WILMINGTON, Del. (May 13, 2023) - Georgian Court Softball played their final game of the 2023 season Saturday afternoon. Needing to win twice against No. 2 seed and host Wilmington to advance to next week's Super Regionals, the Lions fell 4-1 in game one which meant Wilmington was the winner of the sub-regional. The Lions season finished at 39-21.
How it Happened
• Georgian Court scored just a run on five hits against the Wildcats with a pair of doubles.
• Wilmington scattered nine hits, all singles, in six innings.
• GCU was helped out by four Wildcat walks, but left nine runners on base.
• The bottom of the first had plenty of action but
Janelle Blaszka kept Wilmington off the board. An infield single started it, but a double-play cleared the bases. Wilmington put the next two on, thanks to a walk and another infield single. With runners on second and third though, Blaszka got a line out to first to end the inning.
• The Lions left three on in the second and two in the third, and the missed opportunities came back to haunt them.
• Wilmington scored in the home half of the inning off of a two-out RBI single from Gabby Saucedo and led 1-0.
• The score stayed that way until the fifth. With one out,
Kaitlyn Stufft just missed tying the game with a home run. It hit high up on the wall though and she settled for a double.
• With two outs and runners on first and second,
Alyssa Herrera came up with a clutch RBI single up the middle to tie the game.
• Both teams went down in order in their next trip to the plate. But in the sixth Wilmington broke the game open scoring three runs on four hits. A fielder's choice on the infield drove in the go-ahead run. One batter later, a two-RBI single made it a 4-1 game.
• GCU put one on in the seventh, but never brought the tying run to the plate and the game ended 4-1 in favor of the Wildcats.
Lions Stat Leaders
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Janelle Blaszka threw six innings giving up four runs on nine hits.
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Alyssa Herrera drove in the Lions lone run with a single.
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Savannah Simons was 1-2 with two walks and a run scored.
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Kaitlyn Stufft and
Taylor Barraza each doubled.
For the Wildcats
• Taylor Gillis drove in two runs on two hits in four at bats.
• Gabby Saucedo was 2-3 with an RBI.
• Hailey Downin had two hits and scored a run.
• Brooke Koehler got the win out of the bullpen throwing the final 2.1 innings giving up just a hit while striking out four.
News and Notes
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Alyssa Herrera played in her 150th career game.
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Kaitlyn Stufft ended the season reaching base in her last 35 games.
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Taylor Barraza reached base in each of her last 23. She finished the season as the team's leading hitter. Hitting .396 for the season with a .489 on-base percentage.
• Georgian Court lost in the finals of the CACC Tournament and Sub-Regional finals to Wilmington. They were 1-6 in seven games against Wilmington this season.
