Georgia softball earns colossal Game 1 victory over Alabama

Like the football team did in January, the No. 15 ranked Georgia softball team posted a monumental win over No. 4 ranked Alabama Saturday evening to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Georgia beat Alabama 5-3, as the Dawgs posted eight hits to get the win.

Alabama has one of the best softball programs in the country, and it isn’t often the Tide gets beat, so seeing the Dawgs get this win is incredible.

On Saturday, Georgia snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide — another program snapping losing streaks against Alabam is never a bad thing.

The Dawgs move to 31-5 overall and 5-2 in the SEC, but this win gives these ladies a confidence boost that doesn’t always come when playing against a team like Alabama.

Georgia softball leads 1-0 in the series against Alabama.

Madison Kerpics was the Dawgs’ starting pitcher for the game as she outdueled Alabama’s, Montana Fouts. The Tide always has an ace pitcher that is a force of nature which usually gives Georgia problems, but not tonight.

Kerpics pitched all seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out six batters.

She moved to 12-2 while giving Fouts just her second loss on the season.

Fouts is a monster on the mound who holds a 2.00 ERA through 98 innings pitched. She is Alabama’s star pitcher, and rightfully so. Fouts has only given up 66 hits, 32 runs, 28 earned runs, 24 walks and currently, has 165 strikeouts through 21 appearances.

So for Kerpics to outduel her is a big moment for the Dawgs’ pitcher. She is Georgia’s No.1 pitcher, and through her 23 appearances, she pitched 84.2 innings and held a 1.98 ERA. Kerpics has given up just 55 hits, 29 runs, 24 earned runs, and has 104 strikeouts on the season.

Georgia needed this physical and moral victory because now they know that no matter the opponent if they play their game, the Dawgs can win.

From the plate, Jaiden Fields led the team with two hits. Sydney Kuma hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to give the Dawgs the lead, and that score ultimately decided the game. That homer was Kuma’s eighth of the season, and the Dawgs now have 65 through 36 games.

Alabama never let up offensively, as Ally Shipman hit a one-out solo homer to put the Tide on the board, but Kerpics and Georgia’s held tough.

When the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth inning, Kerpics battled hard on the mound to get the final out and keep the Dawgs’ two-run lead.

She continued her dominance from the mound in the seventh inning, recording back-to-back strikeouts, and her teammates behind her helped get the final out at second.

It’s hard to describe what kind of momentum this win gives the Georgia softball team. This victory didn’t win them the series, but it gave the Dawgs an advantage heading into the rest of the games.

Georgia softball should channel the momentum this Game 1 victory gave them into Game 2 on Sunday as these two square off at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network.