Gammill’s blast allows No. 17 Arkansas to slam door shut in series win at No. 3 Georgia

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

Han Gam called Game then danced to home plate.

Arkansas senior third baseman Hannah Gammill hit a pair of home runs, including a seventh-inning grand slam Monday night that removed all doubt, in the No. 17 Razorbacks’ 8-2 win at No. 3 Georgia.

The grand slam put the game out of reach and set off a raucous celebration for Arkansas, including a tick tock move near home plate for Gammill that she didn’t remember doing at first.

“I have been seeing people do it and our team has been working on it,” Gammill told Softball America after the win. “It was kind of like a tick tock thing we’ve been doing. I just thought that I would try it and it worked.”

The victory gave Arkansas (26-9, 5-4) a series win over Georgia (29-6, 6-3), its ninth straight SEC road series win and one that was over its highest ranked foe since No. 3 Tennessee last season.

“I’m not going to take any moment to coach right now, I’m just going to say I am so freaking proud of you guys,” Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel told her team afterwards. “The poise that you guys showed was relentless, but you stayed the course.

“I got a question yesterday ‘how does it feel to pitch caller calling pitches against Georgia? Well, how does it feel to be the pitch caller calling pitches against us?’

“Whoever is out there, I trust our stuff and you do, too, most importantly. You know that you have put in the work and there is nobody that can get you out. There is no one that you can’t get out. That’s a really special thing and that’s what we are working towards.

“…This is a really tough place to play and it only fueled you guys. You were ready for the moment and I’m so proud if you guys.”

Razorback pitchers Robyn Herron, seeing her first time on the mound since a March 17 injury, and Morgan Leinstock (8-2) held Georgia’s explosive offense to five hits.

Herron fanned four and allow two runs on two hits in 3 1/3 innings before Leinstock handled the final 3 2/3 allowing just one hit.

Bri Ellis’ three-run homer in the first inning held held up in Arkansas’ 3-2 win on Saturday before Georgia bounced back with a 8-2 win on Sunday.

“Georgia is a great offense and a great team so to take two from them as such a huge win for our program and such a huge win for our defense, our pitching staff,” Gammill said.

Raigan Kramer and Gammill, who had five RBIs in the contest, hit solo homers Momnday in the first two innings to put the Arkansas up 2-0.

Georgia’s Jayden Kearney tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, but Ellis’ RBI single in the fifth scored Lauren Camenzind to put Arkansas up 3-2.

It stayed that way until the seventh when the Bulldogs chose to walk Ellis to load the bases and not let her add to her team-leading 12 home runs or 40 RBIs.

That backfired when Georgia pitcher Lilli Backes (12-3) hit Kennedy Miller to force in a run and then Gammill launched her 10th home run of the year.

“To literally think nothing,” Gammill said of her mindset at the plate on Monday. “I am just out of body and don’t think about much. So whenever I am not thinking and I just trust myself and the preparation that I have put in. I am think I am better when I don’t think anything in my brain.”

Gammill noted that Deifel was obviously pleased with her team’s effort.

“Coming here and playing in this environment is electric, but also winning against a top five team is insane,” Gammill said. “She was just given us a lot of praise for the work we have put in and just being really prepared for the work we put in for this week and we’re to get this weekend against Missouri.”

Georgia head coach Tony Baldwin saw it as just life in the SEC.

“It was a competitive weekend,” Baldwin said. “Every weekend in the SEC is like that, so every weekend you play a team that’s as good as you are.

“And tonight we just didn’t win enough of the moments to turn it in our favor.”

Photo courtesy of Razorbacks Communications