The College of Coastal Georgia offense came alive in the middle innings Friday afternoon, scoring twelve runs on eleven hits to roll past Webber International 12-1 in six innings at Babson Park. Rylee Mills was equally dominant in the circle, delivering a complete six-inning shutout to improve to 10-2 on the season and give the Mariners a strong start to the series.
Mills was efficient and composed throughout, holding Webber to just three hits and no earned runs while striking out one and walking three. The junior right-hander worked through traffic in the early innings without allowing a run and finished with 95 pitches across six frames, leaving with the game well in hand. Webber's only run came in the first inning on an unearned run off a Sommer Zier-Norris error, but Mills kept the Warriors off the board the rest of the way with a performance that has become routine for one of the top pitchers in the NAIA.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, the Mariners were quiet through the first three innings before breaking through in the fourth. Mackenzie Southerland delivered the key blow with a two-run double to center field that scored Emerson Askew and Rily Andrews, who had reached on a bunt single, to give CCGA its first lead of the game. The fifth inning brought four more runs, highlighted by an Andrews fielder's choice that was misplayed for an error, allowing three runs to score and pushing the lead to 6-1.
The sixth inning was the most dominant stretch of the afternoon for the Mariner offense, as CCGA sent nine batters to the plate and scored six runs to put the game out of reach. Kaitlyn Carolino set the table with a single and a stolen base, and a Mills RBI single, an Andrews bases-loaded walk, a Brooke Perdue hit-by-pitch, and a Southerland three-run double to right field capped the six-run outburst in emphatic fashion.
Southerland was the offensive star of the game, finishing 2-for-4 with two doubles and five RBI in a performance that carried the Mariners when they needed production most. Andrews was equally productive despite finishing with just one hit, driving in four runs and scoring three times by taking what the defense gave him and letting the walks come to her. Carolino went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Mills contributed two hits and an RBI, and Askew added a hit and three runs scored off the bench as the entire lineup made contributions in what was a complete team offensive effort.
