Fillies sweep conference opener

TIFTON- Coming off a their first conference set of games the Fillies softball team earned a split with East Georgia late last week before returning home Saturday against another conference foe South Georgia. ABAC would use some timely base hits, and another strong pitching performance in the circle to post their third and fourth conference win on the year which also resulted in a 6-5 and 5-4 sweep of the South Georgia team. 

As for their third win in conference play last Thursday afternoon, ABAC would use another set of extra innings to help get them past the hosts by the score of 6-4. 

ABAC took their second lead in the ninth inning after both teams plated a run in the eighth inning. The game was tied at three with the Fillies batting in the top of the ninth when Skylar Dorough singled off of Myranda Hand, driving in Olivia Carter from third base. Sydney Vaughn also collected a hit in the inning. 

In the top of the tenth the visitors would send five batters to the plate and score the final two runs of the game. Haley Dobson started it off reaching on an East Georgia error. Taylor Corebett would then sacrifice Miranda Somers in to give ABAC a 5-4 lead with two outs. Carter would again have a hot bat and time one up to score Dobson on the base hit and give ABAC a 6-4 conference win. 

Elizabeth Massingill earned the win for the ABAC Fillies. She went ten innings, surrendering four runs, six hits, and fanned seven. Hand took the loss for East GA. She threw five innings, surrendering one run, four hits, striking out one. 

ABAC had nine hits in the conference win. Vaughn and Savannah Gabriel each collected multiple hits for Fillies. 

Coming off the series split, ABAC continued to show a complete team effort on the field as they fell behind in both of the games against South Georgia. Nine hits in both games seemed to be the number of hits the home team needed to collect to secure the series sweep. 

ABAC took the lead late and defeated South Georgia 6-5 in game one. The contest was tied at three with the Fillies batting in the bottom of the fifth when Corbett doubled off of Sarah Smith, driving in one run. 

The hosts earned the victory despite allowing the visitors to score three runs in the first inning. South Georgia's big inning was driven by an error and a single by Logan Mullis. 

The Lady Hawks took an early lead in the first inning. An error scored one run for South Georgia. 

The Fillies evened things up at three in the bottom of the third inning. Corbett drove in two when she homered in the third inning. 

Kameron Coggins earned the win for the Fillies in the circle. She tossed seven innings, allowing five runs on five hits, and sat down two on strikes. Smith took the loss for South Georgia. She threw four innings, surrendering five runs, seven hits, striking out one. 

ABAC had nine hits in the game in the contest to South Georgia's nine hits. Corbett, Carter, and Victoria Jordan had two-hit performances at the plate for the Fillies. Dobson, Gabriel, and Kali Price added one base knock apiece. 

ABAC eventually prevailed 5-4 in game two after taking the lead in the sixth inning. The game was tied at four with the home team batting in the bottom of the sixth when Trenity Coleman grounded out, scoring one run. 

South Georgia took an early lead in the first inning on a Makayla Clark base hit. She singled on a 2-2 count in the first inning, scoring one run. 

ABAC scored three runs in the fourth inning. The Fillies scored on a groundout by Carter, a single by Bailey Leger, and a single by Gabriel. 

Massingill earned his second conference win for the Fillies. She threw seven innings, surrendering four runs, nine hits, and striking out nine. Abbi Lewis took the loss for South Georgia in the series cap. She went 5 1/3 innings, surrendering five runs, and eight hits. 

ABAC again had nine hits in the game. Vaughn and Price each collected two hits apiece. While Dobson, Corbett, Dorough, Gabriel, and Bailey Leger also hit safely once. 

South Georgia also collected nine hits. Clark and Lewis each collected multiple hits for the visiting team. 

Head Coach Jen Martinez had this to say about her club after the game, "The wins against South Georgia were huge wins for us as a program. South Georgia is a tough team as they were able to put up runs in the first inning of both games. Offensively, we struggled in the, but we were able to make adjustments when we needed to and got the timely hits to help us win. She added, "Both Kameron and Lizzie did a great job of keeping us in both ball games to come back and win." 

ABAC will have their next conference set of game this coming weekend on the road against Georgia Highlands Saturday afternoon at 4PM. 

"ABAC softball needs to stay in the moment and win every pitch of every inning. We need to continue to have solid pitching, solid defense and get the timely hits to have a successful weekend." Martinez state about the upcoming game.

By: J. Roy Rowland IV, Sports Correspondent