The Red and Black

Issue date: 5/22/09 Section: Sports

FITZPATRICK [Click to enlarge]

Come postseason play, the stakes are raised. Every success is lauded, and every failure is magnified. The ordinary must become the extraordinary on a regular basis.

And it is a lesson that the young Georgia softball team seems to have already learned.

In the first inning of the first Super Regional game ever played at UGA Softball Stadium, the Dogs found their backs against a wall. Their ace, Christine Hamilton, lasted only 1/3 of an inning as she walked three straight batters on 12 pitches.

Georgia head coach Lu-Harris Champer quickly pulled the senior in favor of sophomore Sarah McCloud, who induced the first batter she faced, Whitney Cooper to pop to third baseman Alisa Goler - or so she thought.

McCloud was called for an illegal pitch, which allowed a run to score and kept Cooper at the plate, who eventually walked. But McCloud kept her composure, and induced Courtney Pruner to hit into a double play and end the threat.

The Dogs loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the frame, but were unable to score, a common theme in the early part of the game. Through the first three innings, Georgia stranded seven baserunners, five in scoring position.

"We had a lot of baserunners early on," Goler said, "and we knew it was just a matter of time before we got one key hit to break it open."

But Ohio State broke the game open first on a majestic 3-run blast from right fielder Courtney Pruner, that literally made it rain and extended the OSU lead to 4-0.

Things looked bleak for the Dogs, who had a 2-7 record in the regular season when trailing after four innings. However, the postseason is a new season where new trends are created and all regular season stats can be thrown out.

Goler started the comeback, with a line-drive home run off the right field foul pole, to give her team the spark it lacked in the opening innings. It was the first of four consecutive hits that brought another run home and had runners at first and third with one out.

Georgia made it 4-3 on a throwing error by shortstop Alicia Herron before taking a 5-4 lead on a Taylor Schlopy single to center.

The 5-run inning was just the break Georgia needed, and often the kind of break that can propel Georgia to its first College World Series appearance.

"The turning point was getting back-to-back hits, something we couldn't do earlier in the game," Goler said. "It's a great feeling and it part of what we do, we're scrappy and we work for all we get."

Goler led off the sixth inning with her second home run of the game, which gave her 79 RBIs, breaking Charlotte Morgan's SEC record for RBI in a season.

The loss has the potential to be a demoralizing defeat for the Buckeyes, who said all the right things following the game.

"We let one get away," OSU head coach Linda Kalafatis said. "We had some missed signals and some defensive miscues and we hit a ton of balls right at them. But we are a confident team and a gutsy team and we are gonna bring our best tomorrow."

Added pitcher Kim Reeder, "We have to take it one game at a time. This is behind us now and we have to take it one game at a time."

Georgia has the chance to make its first ever trip to Oklahoma City, but it doesn't matter to the team if it takes them two games or three.

"We'll take a win in any game to be honest," Champer said. "Ohio State is a great team and we respect what they can do."

The 11th ranked Buckeyes may be "great" in Georgia's eyes, but the Dogs look just a little better.

- Michael Fitzpatrick is the editor-in-chief of The Red & Black.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools