South Georgia State College’s (SGSC) Lady Hawks softball team finished a four-game series with all wins. The Lady Hawks (8-5) took two games from USC-Salkehatchie at home Feb. 18 with scores of 3-0 and 6-3 and followed with wins of 6-1 and 9-1 Feb. 20 against Georgia Military College.
A wild pitch that plated Allyson Dowdy gave the Lady Hawks the lead in the sixth inning, and they hung on to win game one 3-0.
Makayla Clark had two extra-base hits for SGSC, hitting doubles in the first and fourth innings. Kimberly Gentry kept USC-Salkehatchie off the scoreboard for all seven innings she was in the circle. She pitched a shutout, allowing no opposing players to cross the plate on five hits while ringing up six. The game’s last lead went to SGSC thanks to a sixth inning rally that saw three runs cross the plate on an RBI double by Megan Farmer and an RBI single by Shelby Lacy.
In game two, Clark knocked in four runs, sparking SGSC to a 6-3 victory in seven innings. Clark singled in the fourth and sixth innings.
USC-Salkehatchie couldn’t get anything going as long as SGSC’s Samantha Hays was on the rubber. Hays allowed one hit, no earned runs, walked none and struck out one during her five innings of work. The closer for the Hawks, Whitney Oliver, put away the final six outs to record the save. The game was never in doubt after the first, as the Lady Hawks scored one run on a sacrifice fly by Clark. SGSC got one-run boosts in each of the second, third and sixth innings. In the second, the Lady Hawks scored on a wild pitch, plating Loren Mertz.
A three-run sixth inning helped bring USC-Salkehatchie to within two. An RBI single, a wild pitch, and another RBI single triggered USC-Salkehatchie’s comeback. Oliver got a USC-Salkehatchie player to ground out to end the inning, and the series at the SGSC home field ended with two wins.
In the series against Georgia Military College (GMC), the Lady Hawks took game one 6-1. GMC had eight hits compared with SGSC, but GMC stranded nine runners on base.
Summer Lee racked up two RBIs on two hits for the Lady Hawks. She singled in the first and fifth innings. Oliver picked up the win for SGSC. She pitched seven innings and allowed no earned runs, eight hits and one walk while striking out five.
The Lady Hawks never relinquished the lead after scoring one run in the first inning on an RBI single by Lee. The Lady Hawks tacked on another five runs in the fifth. The inning got off to a hot start when Oliver doubled, plating Chelsea Lyons. That was followed up by Lee’s single, scoring Clark. GMC only managed to score one run in the sixth inning on an error.
In game two, a second-inning rally sparked the win for SGSC. A six-run explosion in the second inning carried the Lady Hawks to a 9-1 win in five innings.
SGSC scored in the second on an RBI single by Lyons, a two-run single by Farmer, a two-run triple by Clark, and an RBI single by Oliver. Clark racked up four RBIs on two hits for the Lady Hawks.
Gentry got the win for SGSC. She allowed one run over four innings. She struck out three, walked two and surrendered three hits.
The SGSC Lady Hawks added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Clark started the inning with a two-run blast, plating Farmer.
For game results and stats, visit the SGSC softball page at www.sgsc.edu.
Narrative Science and GameChanger Media contributed to this story.
– Submitted by Amy Hancock, SGSC External Affairs Coordinator