Georgia outlasted national No. 13-seed Duke on Sunday afternoon, scoring a 10-9 victory to advance into the NCAA Softball Tournament version of the Sweet 16.
“It was a hard-fought game.” UGA coach Lu Harris-Champer said. “For us, it’s about fighting for each other.”
Freshman Sydney Chambley, a former Mount Paran Christian High School star who hails from Dallas, Ga., provided the game-winning hit in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Chambley, who was 3-for-4 hitting with two RBIs along with making a diving catch in the game, singled to left-center to push Sara Mosley across the plate to put Georgia up 10-9.
Mosley, a sophomore from Gilmer High School in Ellijay, Ga., went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs and two runs scored.
Graduate student Mary Wilson Avant (18-10) was in the circle in the sixth and seventh innings and made sure the lead held up. Avant, who shut down Duke on Saturday, pitching her second scoreless inning of Sunday’s game in relief to seal the victory.
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“That’s the proof of Georgia softball, we fight hard,” Chambley said. “The ‘G’ represents so much more than just us. We want every pitch, we want every play to prove what we can do.
“Never count us out.”
The Lady Bulldogs entered the NCAA tourney on a seven-game losing streak. The NCAA Tournament committee, however, awarded unseeded UGA an opportunity to host a four-team regional.
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“Being at home in front of our fans was a huge advantage,” said Harris-Champer, who attributed UGA landing a regional to the program’s difficult schedule and the bid and event management of UGA’s athletic department.
Georgia took full advantage of the ability to host, beating Western Kentucky (11-3, Friday), Duke (1-0, Saturday) and then the Blue Devils once more on Sunday.
The Lady Bulldogs will play Florida in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional in Gainesville, Fla., next week. The NCAA Super Regionals schedules have yet to be announced.
The Gators are the nation’s No. 4 seed and went unbeaten in their regional, not allowing a run in wins over South Alabama (10-0) and South Florida (1-0, 8-0).
Georgia lost two of three at home to Florida April 3-5, winning the first game 4-2 before losing 17-1 and 8-1.
