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No. 4 Georgia slips by Ole Miss 3-2, give coach 750th career victory
Georgia rightfielder Brittney Hubbard had only hit two home runs this season for the No. 4 Bulldogs heading into Sunday afternoon’s matchup against Ole Miss, tied for the second-fewest on the team among players in the starting lineup.
Hubbard showed how little that stat meant in the sixth inning, knocking a two-run home run over the right field wall to boost the Bulldogs to a 3-2 victory over a scrappy Rebels squad.
“I’ve been in that situation before, to have the opportunity to bring in a run when we really needed it, and this time was my time,” Hubbard said. “I’m really happy I was able to give back to the team, because they had been setting up the bases all day with runners.”
Hubbard said she had no illusions of hitting the game-winning home run when she stepped to the plate with the Bulldogs (39-6, 14-5) trailing 2-1.
“That at-bat I was really thinking the exact opposite,” she said. “You know, ‘just swing easy.’ It was one of the easiest, most fluid swings I’ve had, and it shows you really don’t have to swing too hard.”
The Bulldogs’ 3-2 victory over the Rebels (14-33, 3-17) was tougher than expected given that Ole Miss owns the second-worst record in the SEC.
“They played a great game,” said Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer, who picked up her 750th career victory with Sunday’s win. “It was very competitive, and that’s how the SEC is. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, anybody can beat anybody on any given day. You must respect your opponent and play hard every day if you want a chance to win.”
The Bulldogs fell behind early, with the Rebels scoring in the top of the first inning on a throwing error to go up 1-0 before Georgia answered in the bottom of the inning, with Ashley Razey singling to bring in a run and knot it at 1-1.
Neither team scored again until the sixth inning, when Rebels third baseman London Ladner belted a solo home run to help Ole Miss edge ahead 2-1, but Hubbard’s heroics in the bottom half of the inning erased the deficit and saved the Bulldogs from defeat.
Alison Owen (13-2) earned the win after allowing only two runs on three hits to go along with nine strikeouts.
Though she gave up the home run to Ladner to put Georgia in a one-run hole, there was never any doubt in Owens’ mind that the Bulldogs would find a way to win.
“I’m always confident in our team, and especially in our offense,” she said. “I wasn’t really worried [after the home run]. I was more worried about getting the last out and going in and letting them hit and letting them do their thing. I think they did a really good job of responding.”
Georgia gets a break from conference play in its next game, welcoming Georgia Southern to Athens on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs return to SEC competition next Friday, when they head to Fayetteville, Ark. to take on the Razorbacks in a three-game weekend series.
Dogs value infield versatility
When Georgia starting shortstop and 2010 Defensive Player of the Year Laura Trout missed 10 games with a wrist injury, the team didn’t miss a beat.
Head coach Lu Harris-Champer simply had third baseman Alisa Goler or Brittney Hubbard switch between third and shortstop, and the team went 9-1 during that stretch.
Then, one game after Trout returned, Georgia lost senior first baseman and cleanup hitter Brianna Hesson for three games due to an illness.
This time Harris-Champer plugged in junior Kristyn Sandberg and watched as her team went on to sweep then No. 21 LSU.
Brianna Hesson typically plays first, but she’s found herself in right field at times for the softball team this season. It’s that versatility in the infield for the Dogs that has helped them get past a couple of costly injuries. Photo by Sarah Lundgren | The Red & Black
For the Georgia women’s softball team, versatility in the infield has helped the team get over some key injuries during the season and continue to succeed with a 35-5 record and its first No. 1 ranking in school history.
“When you have different players that can go around and play different positions, it opens up different batters that can get into the lineup and [bring a different] overall outlook to the game,” Hesson said. “If someone gets out we have a full lineup behind us that can get in and get the job done.
“Great athletes are able to move around and go anywhere on the field that you need them to go,” Harris-Champer said. “And our team has been very heads up and willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful.”
Goler and Hesson are just two examples of the many options that Harris-Champer has to play with in her infield.
Originally recruited to play shortstop, Goler made the switch over to third as a freshman. She said it took her only about a two weeks for the move to feel comfortable. Now, it’s second nature to her, having made 200 starts at third.
Despite this success, Goler loves any opportunity she gets to go back to her natural position as she has done eight times this season.
“I’ll be honest, I’m a shortstop at heart,” Goler said with a smile.
Hesson, however, made a much more dramatic change midseason, starting 10 games in right field.
“I went to coach and told her, ‘Hey, let me get some reps out in right field’ and sure enough I found myself out there,” Hesson said.
But Hesson, too, prefers her natural position at first base, where she was named to the All-SEC Defensive team in 2010.
“I enjoy it [in right field], I really do. I’ve grown up playing first my entire life,” Hesson said. “Out in right field I’m not the next Megan Wiggins or Taylor Schlopy, but I love it out there. It’s more relaxing, but in the infield you get more action.”
But even with the team’s merry-go-round infield, no player has been more versatile for the Bulldogs than Hubbard. In 30 games, Hubbard has spent time at third, shortstop, right field and as the designated player with the majority of her time spent in right field, where she has started 15 games.
But Hubbard doesn’t have any problem being moved around the field, she knew that it might be expected of her when she came to Georgia.
“Coming to Georgia I knew that I had to learn how to play different positions,” Hubbard said. “That’s a part of being a Division I athlete is you have to be versatile and [coach Harris-Champer] gives you the tools to play anywhere out there, so wherever the team needs me to be successful, I am ready to play.”
Though Hubbard was recruited to play shortstop, she prefers her new position.
“I am really comfortable in the outfield now,” Hubbard said “[In high school] I would have never ever in a million years would have said that I could see myself playing in the outfield, but I am now, and I love it.”
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