Box Score
GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? The University of South Florida softball team ended their season with a 9-2 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon to bow out of the NCAA Regionals in Gainesville, Fla.
“This was a tough loss to a tough season,” head coach Ken Eriksen said. “We've learned a lot over the last year and we're ready to build upon it.”
Georgia Tech's bats came out swinging to take an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Bulls committed a pair of errors to give the Yellow Jackets a chance to extend their lead to 4-0 in the second frame.
USF came alive in the third when Kelly McCarver and Aya Nakajima led off the inning with a pair of singles. McCarver reached home on Kit Dunbar's centerfield single. Shortstop Britta Giddens' hit a deep sacrifice fly to left that scored Nakajima to cut Georgia Tech's lead to two.
McCarver, a freshman from Port Orange, Fla., was perfect for the Bulls finishing 2-for-2 with one run. Nakajima went 2-for-3 and one run.
Three Bulls' errors in the fourth propelled the Yellow Jackets to a five-run lead off of only two hits.
Kristen Gordon came out of the bullpen in favor of Courtney Mosch. Gordon kept Georgia Tech off the scoreboard to close out the third inning.
Mosch, who later returned to the circle to finish the game for the Bulls, took the loss finishing the season at 17-9.
Georgia Tech added two more runs on Blair Shimandle's home run in the fifth to put the Yellow Jackets up 9-2.
The season for the Bulls comes to a close with a final record of 44-20 in head coach Ken Eriksen's 12th year at the realm. Four seniors, Courtney Mosch, Aya Nakajima, Kit Dunbar and Laura Wolf, completed their eligibility with the end of the 2008 season.
“These four seniors have set a tone of class, character, and integrity both on and off the field,” Eriksen added. “If I were an underclassman, I would aspire to be like these four have been for the game of softball and the title of student-athlete.
“We're really looking forward to the first game on Feb. 6, 2009. We'll work hard in the summer and fall. We can't wait for that first pitch.”
