The Georgia Military College Women's Softball team opened up their season on the road this past weekend by going 2-5 against very good competition.  They opened up with Northwest Florida State College by losing 6-1 and GMC lost the second game of the day by dropping to Chipola College, 10-5. 

In the first game on Friday, Northwest Florida State College pitching controlled the game by giving up only 5 hits to the Lady Bulldogs.  Ansley Wilbanks lead the Bulldogs with 2 hits and the lone run scored.  Madason Messer was impressive on the mound for the Bulldogs as she only gave up 1 hit in four innings as some costly errors and timely hits by NFSC which led to them taking the game from the Bulldogs.

In the night cap game against Chipola College, the Indians jumped out to a 8-1 lead by the four inning which was difficult for the Bulldogs to recover from despite scoring 4 runs in the 6^th inning. At the plate, Jordan Crews and Ashtin Burton led the charge with both going 1 for 3 and driving in 2 runs apiece.

After a good nights' rest for the Bulldogs, they opened up on the second day of the JUCO Classic by playing Seminole State College.  Behind strong pitching the Raiders were able to shut out the Bulldogs by the score of 5-0. 

 In the 4^th  game of the tournament the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning but couldn't hold on as Polk State College scored 6 unanswered runs over the next 6 innings to take the game 6-2, dropping GMC to 1-3 on the season.  Both Katy Stamey and Jordan Crews contributed to the Bulldog effort by going 2 for 4 and 2 for 3 respectively.  Kaitlyn Moore (0-2) took the loss by giving up 4  earned runs. 

With a little bit of a break the Lady Bulldogs continued to fight and came back with their first win of the young season against Santa Fe College, 9-0.  Behind a no-hitter by Danielle Downs (1-1) the Lady Bulldogs pounded out 14 hits behind the hot bats of Ansley Wilbanks (3-4, 4 runs scored), Kiley Rediger (3-4, 2B, 3 RBI's), and Jordan Crews (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI's ).

On Day Three of the JUCO Classic in Clearwater, Florida the Lady Bulldogs (1-5) fell to 1-5 by losing to Miami Dade College, 6-3. The Lady Bulldogs gave up 4 runs in the 2^nd inning and never recovered inspite of chipping away at the lead late.  GMC continued to battle at the plate by pounding out 10 hits with another strong performance by Ansley Wilbanks (3-4, 1RBI).  Sara Aldermen got going with a 2-3 performance at the plate as well.

In the final game of the weekend tournament the Lady Bulldogs (2-5) finished strong with a win against Palm Beach State College, 3-1.  Kaityln Moore (1-3) picked up her first win of the season behind a strong pitching performance by only giving up 3 hits in 4 innings.  Ansley Wilbanks continued her hot hitting going 2-3 and running her season batting average to .478.  Katy Stamey contributed as well by going 2-2 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. 

Overall it was a good weekend for the GMC Softball program as they were able to compete against top quality competition on the road.  Coach Ashley Bunn commented that, "For us to go and compete the way we did was great.  We all would have liked to have won a few more games but I am proud of the way the team competed each day.  We are building towards the big picture of a successful playoff run and realize that this was a good step in that direction.  There are a lot of games left for us".

After playing 7 games in 3 days there is no rest for the weary as the GMC Softball team will play next on Tuesday, February 2^nd against Piedmont College JV, with a scheduled start time of the double header for 3pm.