Softball Geared Up for Nonconference Series at Georgia Gwinnett
COLUMBIA, Ky. – For the second consecutive weekend, the Lindsey Wilson softball team will venture away from home for a road series with a ranked opponent. After the Blue Raiders took one of three in last week's "Battle of Highway 55" with then-24th-ranked Campbellsville University, the locals are set to visit Lawrenceville, Georgia, and No. 11 Georgia Gwinnett College.
During last week's outings with the Tigers, the locals batted 0.287 with 23 total hits and four home runs. Three of those long balls came off the bat of Amanda Schick, who now paces the team with four fence-clearing shots and ranks tied for sixth in the conference in the same category.
The Blue Raiders also got a boost offensively from the likes of Kelsie Bostock and Alexis Garayzar, both of whom contributed a team-high five hits against Campbellsville.
On the year, the latter of the two mentioned above is actively tied with teammate Za'Kiya Sizemore for the team lead in total hits with 20. The duo also sit knotted with three home runs apiece and a combined 13 doubles and two triples.
In the circle, freshmen Grace Adams and Savannah Robbins have appeared together in each of the Blue Raiders' last five games, while Adams has earned the nod to start in four of those instances.
Robbins leads the Lindsey Wilson rotation with four victories, and sophomore Abigail Cruz follows close behind with three wins and a team-low 2.98 earned run average, which is the 11th-best such mark in the Mid-South.
Georgia Gwinnett enters the weekend in the midst of an eight-game win-streak and is 13-1 this season against opponents either ranked in the top 25 poll or receiving votes.
The Grizzlies' 0.365 batting average is led by the combination of Sydney Pelaez and Lindzie Owen. The duo are the only team members to have appeared in all 27 games for Georgia Gwinnett so far this season and have each produced a team-high 42 hits, and 28 and 25 runs scored, respectively.
Annalise Wood highlights a pitching rotation sporting the country's tenth-lowest earned run average and fifth-highest strikeout total. The sophomore is actively 9-1 in 12 visits to the rubber. She is also responsible for 123 of the Grizzlies' 192 total punch outs.
Since 2019, Georgia Gwinnett is 6-4 against the Blue Raiders, including 3-1 in four meetings a season ago. Each of those contests were determined by three runs or fewer, while only two of the previous six were decided by such a margin.
Inclement weather may play a factor in this weekend's schedule and fans are encouraged to follow lindseyathletics.com and the softball team's social media pages for any updates.
As of Thursday afternoon, the two-day four-game series is slated to begin on Friday with a twin bill at 1 p.m. CST, then conclude with another doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. CST.
