May 18, 2008

Courtesy: Georgia Sports Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The 23-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (46-22) defeated the Brigham Young Cougars (44-20), 4-0, to win the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional at Anderson Stadium on Saturday.

The Bulldogs went 3-0 to win the Chapel Hill Regional and earn the right to advance to NCAA Super Regional play. Georgia will face the winner of the Los Angeles Regional which includes host and No. 2 national seed UCLA, Nevada , Purdue and Cal State Fullerton. The Super Regional will be played at a campus site to be determined May 23-24.

"I'm just so proud of our team and proud of our players," Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer said. "They played with so much heart and they played as a team the whole time. Today, [Christie] Hamilton just had an outstanding performance, came out and pitched her heart out.

"All year long somebody new has been stepping up all the time," Harris-Champer added. "I can't say enough about our team effort. [Megan] Wiggins made great adjustments from yesterday to today and hit the ball really hard. [Christie Hamilton] came out and pitched her game as she knows how to pitch. All in all, it was a whole team effort because everybody added something to the punch today."

On Saturday, Georgia was led to the Regional Championship by junior Christie Hamilton, senior Melissa Wood and freshman Megan Wiggins. Hamilton tossed her 10th complete game and sixth shutout of the season by allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out five. Despite allowing the three hits and two walks, Hamilton faced just two of the minimum with the aid of Wood behind the plate, who threw out three would be BYU base stealers.

From the plate, the Bulldogs were paced by Wiggins, who went 2-for-3 including what proved to be the game winning home run in the first inning. Supporting Wiggins' offensive effort were senior Sojourner Moody (2-for-4, run) and freshman Alisa Goler (1-for-2, run).

For the tournament, Hamilton earned all three of Georgia's victories without allowing a run in 16 innings of work. At the plate, the Bulldogs out-hit opponents .356 to .200 paced by freshman Brianna Hesson (4-for-6), Wiggins (6-for-10) and Moody (5-for-9). Additionally, freshman Jennie Auger batted .500 and Goler hit .429, while sophomore Niki Stansell added her first home run.

In the championship game, Wiggins provided Georgia with a 1-0 lead with an opposite field, two-out home run off of BYU starter Christina Gwyn Trice in the first inning. Trice took the loss to finish her 2008 season 19-9.

In the fifth, Georgia added three runs to extend its lead to the final margin of 4-0. Moody singled to center and freshman Taylor Schlopy walked to start the inning. Next, Wiggins singled up the middle, and on the play, a throwing error by BYU center fielder Monica Gonzales allowed Moody to score and the other runners to advance to second and third. After Goler was hit by a pitch, Wood hit a ground ball back to the pitcher that went as a fielder's choice as Christie Zinanti came to plate for an out. However, on the play, Cougar catcher Emi Snow Willing tried to turn two by going to first but the throw went passed the reach of the first baseman and into right field allowing Wiggins and Goler to come around to score.