BUFORD, Ga. — Buford earned its place in the Elite Eight on Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of Seckinger, following a 10-2 victory in five innings with a 15-0 win in three. The Wolves scored a combined 14 first-inning runs, putting Seckinger behind early in both games.
Janie Goldin finished the second game 3-for-3, collecting two singles in the opening inning and another in the third. Buford produced 16 hits in the clincher, with Ansley Kehren, Taylor Sawyer and Mackenzie Fritsch each delivering a run-scoring double.
Taylor Jackson earned both pitching victories. She worked all five innings of the opener, allowing nine hits and two runs while striking out four and walking three. Jackson then held Seckinger to one hit without a run or walk over two innings in Game 2. Norah Cook and Kennedy Townsend also pitched in the shutout.
Seckinger briefly held the advantage in the opener after scoring in the top of the first. Buford answered with six runs in the bottom half, including a two-run single from Lydia Hamrick. Bases-loaded walks to LG Goldin and Ella Pierce Hensley, a sacrifice bunt by Olivia Nagel and an error accounted for the other four runs.
The Wolves extended their lead in the third on Janie Goldin's RBI groundout and Brooklyn Atha's run-scoring single. Two solo home runs in the fourth completed Buford's scoring.
Seven players contributed a hit in Game 1: Hamrick, Atha, Kehren, Hensley, Fritsch, Sawyer and a Goldin whose first name was not specified in the recap. Buford also drew seven walks, stole eight bases and turned two double plays without committing an error.
The second game offered Seckinger little opportunity to recover. Kehren, Sawyer and Fritsch each drove in two runs during Buford's eight-run first inning, while Janie Goldin and Atha added RBI singles.
Hensley doubled home a run in the second, and Hamrick followed with an RBI single. Buford added five more runs in the third, getting a run-scoring single from Kehren, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch from Hamrick, a two-run double from Sawyer and Hayden Halper's sacrifice fly.
Kehren finished with three RBIs, while Hamrick, LG Goldin and Hensley each had multiple hits. With both games settled in eight total innings, the Wolves closed the series and advanced to the Elite Eight.
