Florida A&M eliminated from NCAA Softball
Playoffs
May 20, 2006
TUSCALOOSA – The Georgia Tech Yellow
Jackets defeated Florida A&M for the second
time in two days Saturday night, this time
winning 10-7 to advance to the NCAA Region
5 Championship round.
The win didn’t come without a scare
however. With Georgia Tech ahead 10-1 going
into the bottom of the fifth inning, just three
outs away from invoking the run-rule and finishing
out the game, FAMU rallied for six runs, pulling
to within three.
“We were up 10-1 and all of a sudden
it’s like a tornado hits and it is 10-6
or 10-7,” Georgia Tech coach Ehren Earleywine
said. “It can happen very quick and you
can learn your lesson real fast. I probably
should have just stayed with Sarah (Wood) and
taken the sure thing and rolled the dice tomorrow.”
It was FAMU’s hard play throughout
the night that kept things interesting.
“I was pleased with the intensity at
the end and the try-hard and never-give-up
attitude,” Rattlers coach Veronica Wiggins
said. “It could have easily been an eight-run-rule
game, but our players decided to challenge
it and they did that and I’m pleased
with that.”
In the end though, Tech held the Rattlers
scoreless over the last final two innings to
seal the win.
“Like I told the team, I take a lot
of blame for the comeback,” Earleywine
said. “I left Whitney Haller in there
too long. I was pleased with how Sarah Wood
was able to come back in and get some outs
and shut them down.”
Georgia Tech will face Alabama Sunday at 1:30
p.m. The Yellow Jackets would have to beat
Alabama twice to win the Regional Championship.
“The thing about Alabama, and they
proved it today, is the old adage that good
pitching generally beats good hitting,” Earleywine
said. “We only got one run off VanBrakle
today. I’m hopeful that we can score
three, four or five runs and keep it close.”
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