A dominant pitching performance in game one, along with a combined 26 hits in the doubleheader, helped the Bulldogs sweep the South Georgia State Hawks 7-0 and 12-6.
On Tuesday, Milledgeville's inclement weather conditions forced GMC to move their game against South Georgia State College to Douglas, Georgia, for their conference opener. In game one The Bulldogs got the scoring started in the top of the second inning when Jessica Owens hit her third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center that also scored Whitley Ward, who reached on a single. GMC scored one run in each of the following three innings before scoring the game's final two runs in the sixth inning. Owens, Ward, and Caroline Hughes combined for seven of the Bulldogs twelve hits in the game. Brianna Painter, Mackenzie Kilpatrick, Mckenzie Graves, Callie Faircloth, and Macy Poisal each had one hit; Jana Shellhorse picked up her fourth win on the season in dominant fashion. She threw a complete-game shutout, the first of her career, striking out eight batters and only allowing three hits.
Game two of the twin bill started in a back and forth battle before GMC eventually pulled away late in the game. The Bulldogs scored first again as Kilpatrick earned a two-out walk to start the rally. Ward then followed up with a single to right field. Owens drove in the first run with an infield single, and Poisal drove in the second run of the inning on a single to right field. Starting pitcher for GMC, Beth Eddins, sat the Hawks down in order in the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the second, South Georgia picked up three unearned runs to take the early lead of the day. GMC immediately rallied to tie it up to take the lead back in the top of the third inning. Painter got things going for the Bulldogs with a single to right field and then stole second base. Once again, it would take a two-out rally if GMC was going to answer.
Owens smashed a double past a diving third baseman to bring home Painter, and Poisal picked up her second RBI of the day, driving home Owens on another single to right field. The Bulldogs would not relinquish the lead from that point on, scoring two runs in the fifth, four in the sixth, and two additional runs in the seventh. The Hawks scored three more runs in the game, but that was not enough to catch up to the Bulldogs. Every Bulldog that came up to the plate had a least one hit in game two, with Poisal leading the way with three hits and four RBI's. Painter, Owens, and Graves each had two hits. Eddins got the win, going four innings and allowing four runs on nine hits and three strikeouts. Layla Barron, who came on at the bottom of the fifth inning, stopped a big bases-loaded rally for the Hawks, preserved the lead for GMC, and got her second save of the season. Barron allowed two runs on four hits and had two strikeouts.
"It is always nice to open up conference play with two wins, especially on the road. I am proud of how we swung the bat today and mostly with the way we came through with two-out rallies. Of the fourteen innings played, we scored runs in six of them with two outs." Bunn also commented, "We still need to clean a few things up on the defensive side of the ball, but overall it was a good start to the conference for us."
