No. 13 Georgia stays perfect with rout of UMass

ORLANDO, Fla. – The 15th-ranked Georgia softball team put together 13 unanswered hits to come back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat UMass 13-3 in five innings on Saturday morning at the UCF Softball Complex.

The Bulldogs improved to 4-0 on the season and have scored 10 or more in their last three games.

Juniors Sydney Chambley and Ellie Armistead combined for eight of Georgia’s 13 runs, driving in five and three, respectively. Chambley scattered three hits while Armistead and freshman Marisa Miller had two hits each in the contest.

As a team, Georgia scattered 14 hits including four extra base hits. In total, 10 hitters in the Georgia lineup had a hit while six picked up at least one RBI.

Freshman Destin Howard worked two-thirds of an inning in his first career start in the circle, allowing three runs on one hit. Sophomore Kylie Macy (1-0) got the win out of the pen, pitching the final four and three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out eight Minutewomen.

The Minutewomen (0-2) used a pair of two-out walks and a defensive miscue by the Dogs to score in the first three innings and take an early 3-0 lead.

Armistead sent the first pitch of the third inning over the wall in right center for his second home run of the weekend, putting Georgia on the board, 3-1.

The Bulldogs changed the momentum in the fourth inning. Georgia loaded the bases with one out. Armistead drew a walk to drive in the first run. Chambley lined the right-center gap with a bases-clearing triple to give Georgia a 5-3 lead. Chambley immediately scored on a groundout to Dallis Goodnight’s first at bat to close out the fifth inning, 6-3.

Seven points in the fifth extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 10 over the Minutewomen. Sydney Kuma came up with the bases loaded and didn’t get out and drove one over the left side. Lyndi Rae Davis singled up the middle to plate another Georgia run and then a wild pitch scored another, 9-3. Armistead drove in his third drive of the day to mark the 10-run mark. A double to left off the bat of Chambley pushed in two more for the Dogs and then he scored on a fielder’s choice to bring the tally to 13-3.

A pair of Georgia errors allowed two UMass hitters to reach in the fifth, but Macy wiggled out of the jam, fanning the final out with a strikeout in the eighth.

Georgia will play its final game of the Black & Gold Classic Sunday morning in a rematch against Boise State. The first against the Broncos is set for 9 a.m. in Orlando.