Sean Stevenson
Associate Sports Communications Director (Volleyball, Softball)
University of Georgia Athletic Association
The fifth-ranked Georgia softball team routed the Georgia Southern Eagles Wednesday evening 17-1 in five innings at Jack Turner Stadium.
Sophomore Jaydyn Goodwin had a career game. She hit two home runs, one of which was a grand slam, and drove in a career-high six runs.
Georgia improves to 24-4 on the season. All 17 Georgia position players played in Wednesday’s game, and 13 Bulldogs recorded hits.
Behind Goodwin, Georgia scattered 15 hits, including four home runs and five doubles. No Georgia batter struck out Wednesday. Along with Goodwin, Jaiden Fields also had two hits. Four Bulldogs, including Lyndi Rae Davis, Tyler Ellison, Marisa Miller, and Goodwin, drove in multiple runs on the night.
Rylie Orcutt worked one scoreless inning in her third start in the circle. Destin Howard (2-0) earned the win, working two scoreless, hitless innings out of the pen. Rachel Gibson surrendered one run in two innings to close the game.
The Dogs plated a trio of two-out runs in the home half of the first. With Sara Mosley on second, Sydney Kuma ripped a double down the left-field line to put Georgia on the board 1-0. Goodwin stepped in and sent the first pitch she saw over the wall in center, widening the lead to 3-0.
Mosley drove in Dallis Goodnight in the second to lengthen the lead to 4-0. Goodwin continued her hot hitting, blasting a grand slam to center, the first of her career. Ellie Armistead followed with a solo home run of her own to complete the six spot in the second, 9-0.
A nine-run fourth inning broke the game open even further. Miller knocked a three-run home run, the first of the season for her to make it 12-0. Davis plated two with a single to left then Emma Castorri drew a bases-loaded walk to bring the tally to 15-0. Ellison then doubled to the wall in left center, plating two more and bringing the lead to 17-0.
Georgia Southern’s Faith Barth broke up the shutout with a sac fly in the top of the fifth, 17-1.
Next up, Georgia hits the road for a four-game road swing beginning this weekend with a three-game series at Ole Miss. The Bulldogs and Rebels begin the series Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Oxford. The series will stream live on SEC Network+.
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the positives of tonight’s game…
“I thought Riley [Orcutt] got us off to a good start, and then Sydney Kuma’s two-out hit there in the first inning was big. When you look at it now, maybe it doesn’t seem like that, but getting that run in in the first allowed everybody to kind of settle in and just play softball. And then to go out there and put up a zero for Destin [Howard] in her first inning really got us off and running. There were a lot of good at-bats. I’m really proud of a lot of the way the people that got opportunities today went in there and approached their at-bats. It’s always fun to see them experience some success. We’ve got a lot of good people, a lot of good players on this team. You’re pulling for all of them, and when they got an opportunity and get a smile on their faces, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
On what the team’s offensive dominance tells him about their perseverance…
“We just have a bunch of good players. I’ve said it before: I think this is as good of a roster as we’ve ever had in terms of depth. You guys as reporters can argue on the best players we’ve had and whether they’re on our team or not, but I know one through 17 on our position players, one through 23, this is as good as we’ve been. So that competition keeps everybody sharp. We practice well. It’s important to them. We’ve kind of taken on this motto that tonight was the most important game in the country because we were playing in it, and that’s how we try to look at every single game. It’s an important game if we’re playing, and if we’re playing in it then we want to compete to the best of our ability with what we have. They’ve really taken that on, and I think that’s led to a lot of our consistency.”
#2 Jaydyn Goodwin | So. | INF/OF
On her at bats on Wednesday…
"It seems like everything was clicking, being comfortable. Believing in myself, not trying to overdo it, and just trusting what I work on every day at practice with Tony."
On how they still give it their all…
"It makes it more fun because you keep going. You see the scores going up and up. Then today, everyone gets a chance. I think almost everybody on the team got a hit today, so that always makes it more exciting."
On going into more SEC play this weekend against Ole Miss…
"Just going in believing in ourselves, knowing what we can do to accomplish. Just focusing on ourselves, not really being too worried about what's on the outside."
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