Georgia softball falls to Auburn Tigers 11-10 on walk-off homerun
In its series opener against Auburn, Georgia softball lost 11-10 in a back-and-forth battle Friday night. The Bulldogs put on a show against the Tigers with a lead change eight different times throughout the game. In all, five Bulldogs scattered multiple hits: Dallis Goodnight, Tyler Ellison, Lyndi Rae Davis, Jaydyn Goodwin and Sarah Gordon.
Randi Roelling started the game, throwing 1.2 innings and giving up five earned runs on six hits, with two strikeouts and one walk. Destin Howard came on in relief for a third of an inning, followed by Rachel Gibson, who pitched two and a third innings and allowed two unearned runs. Lilli Backes took the loss after surrendering the walk-off home run in the seventh. She pitched the final two innings and recorded five strikeouts.
In the bottom of the first, Auburn scored two off of a two-run homer to put the first runs on the board. Ellison started the Bulldogs off in the second inning with a three-run home run to center field. The blast was Ellison’s seventh home run of the season, putting Georgia ahead 3-2 in the top of the second.
However, in the bottom of the second, the Tigers came out swinging, scoring four runs on four total hits, including three home runs, putting them ahead 6-3.
Rae Davis, Goodwin and Gordon all singled consecutively in the top of the third, loading the bases for the Bulldogs. Davis was scored on a walk and Goodwin was driven in by a single to right by Paislie Allen. Ellison hit a two-run RBI later in the inning to bring the Bulldogs to a close 7-6 lead. In all, Ellison drove in five runs during the game, tying a career high.
Georgia was quiet in the top of the fourth, but Auburn scored two more runs as a result of a fielding error and a single. Going into the fifth, the Tigers had the lead, 8-7.
Goodnight singled through the left side in the top of the sixth after a 37 minute rain delay in Auburn. Goodnight finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of runs. Goodwin and Gordon both singled soon after, loading the bases for Emily Digby — who hit a sacrifice fly to left field to tie up the game at eight. Auburn homered in the bottom of the sixth to extend their gap back to a one-run lead.
Down to her final strike, Davis’ two-RBI single in the top of the seventh gave Georgia a 10-9 lead and kept the game alive. After a long fight, Auburn’s KK McCrary hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to win the game.
