Lady Bobcats Softball Team begins conference play by sweeping GMC at home
Last edited: March 21, 2022 by Harley Smith
The East Georgia State College Lady Bobcats Softball Team began conference play for the 2022 Spring season by sweeping the defending GCAA Champions Georgia Military College (GMC) Bulldogs.
In game one the Lady Bobcats took an early 2 to 0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Ashleigh Miles hit a single that scored Bailey Davis and Sierra Taylor to give the Bobcats the lead through four innings of play. The Bulldogs responded in the fifth inning when two Bobcat errors led to a tied game at 2 to 2. The Bobcats responded in the bottom of the sixth inning when Alexis McQuaig hit a double to score Summer Alexander to give the Bobcats the lead at 3 to 2. That’s all it took as the Bobcats pitcher Britney Foster held off the Bulldogs and gave the Bobcats the victory.
Game two was a pitcher’s duel as Cierra Kinlaw, Mattie Cash, and Ashleigh Miles would combine to allow just one run to the Bulldogs with Ashleigh Miles getting the win in the end. Ashleigh Miles hit a solo homerun in the third inning and that held through the fifth inning when GMC scored their only run of the contest on back-to-back doubles.
The game remained tied through seven complete innings of play leading to extra innings. In the top of the eighth the Bobcat’s defense stepped up and held the Bulldogs to no runs. With the scored tied, the Bobcats broke the Bulldog’s hearts in the bottom of the eighth inning when Sierra Taylor scored from third base on a line drive by Summer Alexander to give the Bobcats the sweep of the Bulldogs to begin conference play in the GCAA.
Britney Foster led the day for all pitchers with 10 strikeouts in game one. Cierra Kinlaw had five strikeouts in four innings of work. Ashleigh Miles struck out four batters in two and one-thirds innings of work to get the win.
The Bobcats Head Coach Chuck Wimberly stated after the Bobcat sweep of GMC, "We played with a lot of heart and passion today. From our dugout to our starters on the field, we were all in today! We pitched well and played incredible defense behind our pitchers, and more importantly we were able to get timely hits at the plate to give us the sweep of GMC. This is probably the best opening series victories in the history of our softball program in 12 years. You cannot win the whole thing at the beginning of conference play, but you can lose the whole thing by not getting out the gates early and playing well."
