ATHENS -- Georgia looked unbeatable in the first game with a 14-2 victory, but the Baylor Bears proved too resilient on Sunday, bouncing back to claim the second and deciding game 9-2 and a berth in the Women's College World Series.
Baylor pitcher Whitney Canion was the catalyst, rebounding from her shortest outing of the season in the opener to earn a complete-game victory. .
Baylor(45-13) took a 2-1 Super Regional series victory over Georgia, which failed in its bid for a third consecutive World Series berth.
After struggling against Canion on Saturday, it looked as if the Bulldogs had figured her out in the first game, but she showed why she's one of the nation's best pitchers.
She never let Georgia (51-14) rally after her offense staked her to a five-run cushion while running Bulldog starter Morgan Montemayor from the game after just two-thirds of an inning. It was Montemayor's shortest start of the season.
The Georgia starter's inning started innocently enough; she retired the first two Baylor batters. But consecutive walks set up Holly Holl's RBI double, Kathy Shelton's RBI single and Megan Turk's three-run home run. Baylor's first eight runs all scored with two outs.
In the first game, the Bulldogs' bats came alive in a big way. Home runs from Ashley Razey, Kristyn Sandberg and Taylor Schlopy in the first three innings chased Canion after just 2-1/3 innings.
Canion, who stifled Georgia's lineup on Saturday night, holding the Bulldogs to just one run on three hits in a complete game, didn't fool many batters early Sunday.
The onslaught started with back-to-back home runs from Razey and Sandberg to lead off the second inning. When Schlopy's homer sent Canion out of the game, the Georgia offense was just getting started.
Everything snowballed in the fourth inning, with Liz Paul in the circle for the Bears. Two hit batters and an error loaded the bases, followed by an RBI walk by Schlopy and a run-scoring single from Briana Hesson to run Paul from the game.
In came 6-foot-2 sophomore Courtney Repka, who induced a fielder's choice before giving up a double, triple and a hit batter, combined with multiple illegal-pitch calls to round out a 10-run inning for the Bulldogs.
Montemayor had few problems in the first game for the Bulldogs, throwing three shutout innings while scattering two hits before giving way to Sarah McCloud once the game was in hand.
Baylor pushed two runs across against McCloud in the fourth, but it wasn't enough to keep the game from being called after five innings because of the run rule.
NOTES: The 10 runs in the fourth inning of the first game was the most in one inning for Georgia since March 28 last year. ... Georgia's five home runs in Sunday's first game tied the school record for homers in a game. ... The Bulldogs' 14 runs were the most for a Baylor opponent this season. ... Megan Wiggins' third-inning double in game one was her 23rd of the season, a school record. ... Sandberg was Georgia's best hitter Sunday, going 4-for-4 with two home runs, two doubles, three runs and four RBIs.
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