Georgia softball unable to catch Liberty, falls to elimination bracket for redemption
Georgia softball fell to Liberty on Saturday morning in the second round of the NCAA Athens Regional, 7-3.
The Bulldogs drop to the elimination bracket for one more chance at the finals. They'll face the winner of Charlotte/UNCW, the latter which they defeated 8-0 yesterday in round one. First pitch is set for around 4 p.m. on ESPN+. The Flames are the first to punch their ticket to the finals Sunday, with time for first pitch still to be announced.
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Dallis Goodnight set the pace early when she homered down the right field line to open the game. Liberty wasn't going down that easy though, and the Flames quickly responded. Megan Fortner's sac fly brought home Rachel Roupe to tie it up early.
The Flames went up two more in the bottom of the second inning when Brooke Roberts launched a rocket down right field, bringing KK Madrey and herself home. Madrey had singled to first base and advanced to second on an error when UGA dropped the catch.
After a triple in the bottom of the third inning by Fortner, Backes retired from the circle after 2.2 innings with five hits, three runs, three errors and two strikeouts. Shelby Walters took her place in attempt to clean things up.
The fourth inning is when Georgia gathered its bearings. Lyndi Rae Davis was walked to first base, and Hayley Eaton was put in to pinch run for her. Kearney and Mosley's back-to-back single down the left side brought Eaton home. With bases loaded and zero outs, Goodwin then singled through the right side to bring Kearney home to tie the game back up.
A third base interference call was made on Georgia, sending Mosley back to the dugout.
From there, the fire began to dwindle, with Emily Digby striking out swinging and Ellie Armistead grounding out to third base to end the inning 3-3.
Liberty answered by loading the bases themselves in the bottom of the fourth with zero outs. Walters lobbed a pitch at Rachel Craine, hitting her in the lower left arm region, and the Flames were able to break the tie yet again by advancing Raigan Barrett.
Another challenge, this time on an out called at home plate finds Liberty sending Madrey packing to the dugout for two outs and bases still loaded. Brynn McManus doubled up the middle to bring home Roupe, Craine and Roberts and regain the lead by four.
The Bulldogs were unable to catch up as the Flames set Jack Turner ablaze.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Liberty outpaces Georgia softball, sends them to the elimination bracket
