Dawgs beat Broncos, conclude opening weekend unbeaten

ORLANDO, Fla. – The 15th-ranked Georgia softball team got off to a 5-0 start to the 2023 season with a 14-1 victory in five innings over Boise State Sunday at the UCF Softball Complex.

Georgia scattered 15 hits including four extra base hits, led by three hits from Dallis Goodnight in the ninth spot of the lineup. Jaydyn Goodwin and Sara Mosley each tallied two hits, but Jayda Kearney hit four home runs to open the weekend, a grand slam in the fifth, to lead the Bulldogs with four RBI. Jaiden Fields pushed in three runs on Saturday.

Shelby Walters (3-0) remained hitless in the circle, working four innings in her start, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out five Broncos and walked none. Sophomore Sydney Osada pitched the fifth inning in her 2023 debut.

For the first time in the opening weekend, it was Georgia that drove in the first run of the game. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with no outs. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Fields scored the go-ahead run. Two batters later, Ellie Armistead tripled off the wall in right to drive in two more and extend Georgia’s lead to 3-0 in the third inning.

Georgia once again finds itself in a base situation where it doesn’t top the fourth. Mosley delivered a two-run single down the first base line to extend the lead to 5-0. Another two-run single, this time off the bat of Fields to left, put the Dogs up by seven, 7-0.

A solo home run put the Broncos on the board in the bottom of the fourth, 7-1.

Georgia rallied for a seven-run fifth inning. Goodnight led off with an infield hit, stole second, and took third on a throwing error. He easily scored a single back to the pitcher off the bat of Goodwin, bringing the lead back to seven, 8-1. With the bases loaded and no outs, Kearney blasted home his fourth of the weekend for a grand slam to put the Bulldogs ahead, 12-1. In a pinch-hit opportunity, freshman Lauren Burnett followed Kearney with a homer of her own, the first of her career, 13-1. With the bases loaded again, a run scored on a fly play to make the final tally 14-1.

Lefty Osada made his 2023 debut in the bottom of the fifth, striking out two in a 1-2-3 inning and securing a 5-0 start for the Dogs.

Georgia opens its 2023 home schedule next weekend with the Red & Black Showcase at Jack Turner Stadium. The Bulldogs will host No. 17/14 Stanford, St. John, and Charlotte. First pitch against the Stanford Cardinal is set for 3:30 pm Friday in the home opener.