Softball stays alive in playoff race following split

Junior Haley Burnett has come up big at the plate time after time this season for the Georgia College softball team. None may have been bigger than Burnett’s walk-off three-run homer on April 5, as the Bobcats beat Armstrong Atlantic, 6-5 in the first game of a PBC doubleheader.

Unfortunately the Bobcats weren’t able to hang on in the second game, as the Pirates rallied for six runs in the last inning, claiming a 10-7 victory on Senior Day.

The win in the first game, however, helped the Bobcats stay alive in the playoff race. Georgia College (12-33, 7-11 PBC) entered their final two regular season games at USC Aiken on April 7, which had not been played at press time, tied for eighth place in the conference with UNC Pembroke.

If the Bobcats finish in the top eight, they will advance to the conference tournament April 15-17.

“We played probably as well in those 14 innings as we have all season,” Head Coach Jamie Grodecki said. “The walk-off was definitely huge, and we were able to put some things together. We really need to go take both games at Aiken. It’s going to be tough.”

Down 2-0 in the second, the Bobcats rallied to tie the score.

Senior second baseman Brandie Monroe continued her recent hot streak with a leadoff single.

Later, senior rightfielder Kati Pickowitz singled, and fellow senior, leftfielder Lauren Potts drew a walk to load the bases.

A pair of freshmen at the top of the order then came through, as centerfielder Whitney Okvist singled in Monroe, and first baseman Lindsey Conway walked, bringing in Pickowitz to make it 2-2.

The Pirates regained the lead in the top of the fourth, but the Bobcats bounced right back with their own run.

Junior shortstop Corby Holmes led off with a walk and then alertly advanced to second on a foul out to deep left by Potts. After Holmes moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Okvist, she scored on a single by Conway to tie the game at 3-3.

After Armstrong regained the lead at 5-3 in the fifth, they appeared to be in position to win the game. But the Bobcats had a little magic in store in the bottom of the seventh.

They wasted no time, as Conway led off with a single to give her a 3-for-3 day.

After a single through the left side by junior catcher Anna Parker, Burnett drilled a pitch well over the left centerfield fence to give the Bobcats a 6-5 win.

“I was just trying to get a hit, not do too much, but I got a good pitch and was able to do more,” Burnett said. “That win was really big for us. We are finally coming together, and it was really huge for our confidence.”

Junior Sabrina Chandler pitched the first 4.2 innings of the game, before freshman Chelsie Huffman went the final 2.2 innings, allowing no runs or hits to pick up the win.

In game two, the Bobcats scored three runs in the bottom of the first after Armstrong took a 1-0 lead in the top half.

Okvist led off with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a single by Conway.

A double by Parker knotted the score, and after Burnett was intentionally walked, Monroe smoked a double down the right field line to give Georgia College a 3-1 edge. The expanded that lead to 4-1 in the second on an RBI single by Parker and 5-1 in the third on a throwing error after a sacrifice bunt.

The Pirates, however, hung around, scoring three times in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-4.

Georgia College bounced back a pair of runs in the bottom half, as Okvist led off with a triple and scored on Conway’s sacrifice fly.

Parker then followed with her eighth homer of the season to make it 7-4.

The wheels came off in the top of the seventh, as the Pirates scored six runs off of five hits and two Bobcat errors, a problematic area for Georgia College this season, to steal the 10-7 win. Burnett pitched the entire game for the Bobcats, picking up the loss.

In previous action, the Bobcats dropped a conference doubleheader at Flagler on April 2, dropping the first game, 5-0 and the second game, 8-0.