Georgia’s pitching and defense went cold, and the Bulldogs ran into a hot pitcher. The combination meant for a predictable outcome: A 9-1, run-rule loss to Baylor in the first game of the NCAA Super Regional on Friday at UGA’s Jack Turner Softball Stadium.
Five days after throwing a no-hitter to win the Athens Regional, Georgia pitcher Chelsea Wilkinson was tagged for eight runs on seven hits and gave up two home runs to the 13th-seeded Bears (46-14). Her defense let her down early as the Bulldogs committed three errors, and Georgia couldn’t get anything going against Baylor’s sixth-year pitcher, Whitney Canion.
Canion, who missed two seasons because of injuries to her knee and elbow, was pitching in the third Super Regional of her career. The experience was evident as she limited the big-hitting Bulldogs to two hits — one in the first and one in the last inning — and generally handcuffed Georgia all day.
“She’s been around awhile,” Georgia coach Lu Harris-Champer said of Canion. “Chelsea was a freshman in high school when she was a freshman in college. So there is some maturity there, and she’s absolutely an outstanding pitcher. We look forward to getting to compete (against her) some more.”
The teams will battle again Saturday for the right to advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City next week. The best-of-three series resumes at noon, with the third game immediately following, if needed.
It’s a similar scenario to the one the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (49-13) encountered last weekend. They lost to N.C. State 5-4 on Saturday, then won three consecutive by the combined score of 20-1 to advance.
“It’s definitely the harder way,” said second baseman Alex Hugo, who had Georgia’s only two hits. “Last week we knew it was going be a long day, but we just decided to have fun with it and play hard.”
Hugo’s home run in the bottom of the sixth was her 24th of the season and tied the Bulldogs’ single-season record of 24 set by Alisa Goler in 2009. But there were few highlights otherwise as Georgia encountered its most lopsided loss of the season.
Wilkinson gave up a rare lead-off walk to open the game and an error by first baseman Geri Ann Glasco resulted in Baylor’s first run rather than the inning’s second out. Baylor’s Sarah Smith came up with two on and two out and managed to lift a pitch just over the 190-foot mark in left field for a three-run homer and an early 4-0 lead.
Smith, a freshman, had three hits and just missed hitting for the cycle.
The Bulldogs threatened in their half of the inning as Hugo recorded a one-out triple that was inches from going over the left-field wall. But she was stranded at third, and Georgia never threatened again.
“We know what it takes to go 14 innings strong, and that’s where we’re at,” Harris-Champer said. “We’ve got our backs against the wall, and we usually come out strong when that happens.”
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