ATHENS — Brianna Hesson knocked in five runs, and Morgan Montemayor pitched a four-hit shutout as Georgia defeated Georgia State 8-0 on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA softball regionals.
With the win — called after five innings via the “mercy rule” — the top-seeded Bulldogs (48-12) advance to the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament. They will face UAB, a 2-0 victor over FSU, at noon Saturday.
Georgia State (36-24), which was playing in its first NCAA regional, will take on the Seminoles (30-27) at 2:30 p.m.
Hesson, a senior from Sugar Hill, came up twice with the bases loaded, pushing in two runs with a single to center field in the third inning and clearing the bases with a double off the left-field wall in the fourth. It was a season-high RBI night for Hesson and increased her team-high total for the season to 62.
“Bri coming up with five RBIs in one game, that was pretty clutch,” Georgia coach Lu Harris-Champer.
Said Hesson: “I try to just focus on the process, and that’s my mentality when I go up to bat. Knowing that we have the bases loaded, there can’t be a more fun position to be in.”
The Bulldogs had eight hits and collected all their runs in the third and fourth innings. Hesson, shortstop Laura Trout and left fielder Megan Wiggins had two hits apiece. Wiggins, Trout and Taylor Schlopy each scored twice.
“We wanted to come out aggressive and keep punching, punching, punching all the way,” said Wiggins, a senior from Snellville and the team’s leading hitter with a .379 average. “We’re in the postseason, so everybody’s fighting hard to get to the World Series. Georgia State’s a great team, so we knew we had to come out and play our game.”
UGA is the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA. The Bulldogs have advanced to the past two College World Series.
The game not as lopsided as it may seem. The Panthers held Georgia scoreless through the first two innings and threatened with two runners on in the second inning. The inning ended on a close play at first base and a line out.
The Bulldogs finally broke the drought with some aggressive base running as Trout scored from third on a Schlopy grounder to second base. The umpires ruled that Hesson got her hand in underneath the tag on a close play at the plate. After a walk to Alisa Goler, Hesson followed with a two-RBI single.
“I thought we competed well, especially for playing for the first time in the regionals,” Georgia State coach Roger Kincaid said. “We did what we needed to do for the first 2 1/2 innings. I felt like we were composed. The kids played great defense the whole game, zero errors. We got a couple of bad breaks and got piled on a little bit.”
The Panthers went through three pitchers, including starter Alana Thomas, who grew up in nearby Oconee County. Kincaid pulled her with one out in the third inning trailing 3-0.
“It was a great feeling honestly,” Thomas said. “I grew up watching games here with my dad and always thought how cool it would be to play here. I felt on top of my game, but they’re a good team.”
About the Author
