Rily Andrews put together one of the finest individual performances of the season Friday afternoon, homering twice and driving in three runs to power Coastal Georgia to a dominant 10-1 mercy-rule victory over Warner in the Sun Conference Tournament. The win improves the Mariners to 37-11 and sets up a highly anticipated matchup with Southeastern later tonight.
Coastal Georgia wasted absolutely no time, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first before Warner could record an out on the scoreboard. Kaitlyn Carolino singled and advanced on a wild pitch, walks to Andrews and Rylee Mills loaded the bases, and Mackenzie Southerland delivered an RBI walk to get things started. Brooke Perdue added a sacrifice fly, and Maddy Lee capped the inning with a two-run single to make it 4-0 and set the tone for the afternoon.
The Mariners kept right on rolling from there, adding a run in each of the second, third, and fourth innings to steadily push the lead beyond reach. Andrews drove home a run in the second with a sacrifice fly from Mills, Lee launched a solo home run in the third, and Andrews added an RBI single in the fourth after Carolino reached and stole second. The two combined to be virtually unstoppable all afternoon.
Andrews put the finishing touch on a memorable day in the sixth, sending a two-run home run to center field to score Emma Jones and set the final at 10-1. It was the kind of complete, dominant performance that has come to define the Mariners at their best.
McKenzie Collins was superb in the circle, going all six innings and allowing just one earned run on five hits while striking out two on 76 pitches. She worked efficiently throughout and improved her record to 4-1 on the season.
Andrews finished 3-for-3 with a double, two home runs, three RBI, and two runs scored in a performance that will be tough to top. Lee went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBI, Carolino reached base multiple times and scored twice, and Jones contributed two hits and two runs scored in a balanced offensive effort from top to bottom.
The Mariners now turn their attention to a rematch with Southeastern in tonight's tournament action.
