The Georgia College & State University (GCSU) softball team (13-6, 3-3 PBC) opened up Peach Belt Conference (PBC) home play with a 2-1 split over Columbus State University (12-7, 1-2 PBC), including a six-inning 8-0 shutout victory in game two.
The series last weekend at the Peeler Complex in Milledgeville marked the first time since April 2018 that the Bobcats took down the Cougars with a series win.
Still, the Cougars struck first with a two-run second inning in the opening game on Saturday, followed by another two runs in the seventh-andfinal inning that led to a 4-2 win.
GCSU scored their two runs in the third inning, coming off a hit by firstbaseman Jessica Owens that sent Emily Hobbs home, and a sacrifice fly to left field by MacKenzie Martin to score Kam Caldwell.
Florida’s Shelby Jones got the start and took the loss for GCSU, pitching the complete game. Jones (5-4) allowed four earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts.
The second game on Saturday saw the Bobcats drive in eight runs on 11 hits that eventually represented all the game’s scoring, as it ended after just six innings at 8-0, in accordance with the league’s run differential rule.
Batting in the bottom half of each inning, GCSU put up one run apiece in each of the second to fourth innings, followed by a five-run explosion in the sixth to put the game away.
Center fielder MacKenzie Hoffman drove in Divina Checo for the first run, followed by Owens scoring in the third inning with a solo moonshot to left field. A double from Hoffman in the fourth sent Ashley Schell home for the Bobcats' third score.
In the sixth, a careerfirst homerun for Hobbs got the scoring going again for the Bobcats, with Sydney Lancaster and Hoffmann also being driven home. Late in the inning, Checo finished off the Cougars with a double to deep centerfield to score Owens and Caldwell to reach the 8-0 final.
Jana Shellhorse of McDonough got the start for the Bobcats and pitched the complete game shutout. Shellhorse (6-2) allowed only five hits through six innings as she fanned three batters.
The two squads finished out the series with a 10-6 decision on Sunday in favor of the GCSU home team.
The Cougars struck first, plating two runs in the top of the first inning, then adding another in the third before the Bobcats took over the lead with a big four-run effort in the bottom of the third, followed by six more in the fourth inning.
Caldwell kept the hot bat going in the third with two RBIs on a single slapped past the shortstop. She then came around to score herself after Owens drilled a triple to right field. A hit from Martin followed to send Owens home to reach a 4-3 lead after three innings played.
The Cougars caught a break in the top of the fourth when a throwing error in the GCSU infield led to three unearned runs and a retaking of the lead at 6-4.
It marked a short-lived advantage, however, as Caldwell came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and picked up her final two RBIs of the game with a single to the right side that sent both Lancaster and Hoffman home. Owens followed by driving Hobbs in for another score, and then Caldwell came around to score on a wild pitch.
Martin finished off the scoring for GCSU with a double to shallow left-center field that sent Checo and Haycroft home and solidified a 10-6 Bobcats win as the final three innings saw no more scoring from either team.
Caldwell led the run production for the Bobcats as she had four RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base in her 3-for-4 outing. Hoffman went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored, and a stolen base and Owens was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, one run scored, and one stolen base.
The Bobcats had three pitchers take the circle in the win, with Shellhorse throwing three innings and picking up a strikeout with four earned runs on five hits. Montana Ledbetter from Illinois got the first relief effort and was credited with the win after allowing zero earned runs and picking up a strikeout in her 1.2 innings of work. Jones closed the game and got her second save of the season after allowing no runs with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.