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Corrick dominates in series against Florida Atlantic

Junior pitcher Georgina Corrick (above) is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.80 so far this season. USF ATHLETICS PHOTO

Junior pitcher Georgina Corrick put on a pitching showcase against Florida Atlantic over the weekend, logging 37 strikeouts through 17 innings pitched over three games.

USF won the first two matchups, but dropped the finale in extra innings Sunday evening.

Corrick started Game 1 and flirted with breaking USF’s single-game strikeout record, which she currently shares with former USF pitcher Erica Nunn. She would ultimately tally 17 through seven innings, falling one short of tying the record, and two short of breaking it.

Corrick still found ways to impress. The talented pitcher from Sanford created some of her own run support, blasting home runs in the first and third innings, and putting together one of the most complete performances in USF softball history on the way to a 6-0 win.

“I’ve been really fortunate with coach, he puts me in a lot of situations where I get a chance to step up to the plate, or step up to the mound and have a really good day, and I can’t thank him enough for that,” Corrick said Sunday night. “But I think every single one of our pitchers is putting in the same preparation, every single one of our hitters is working their butts off every single day.”

Game 2 was headlined by the pitching of freshmen Vivian Ponn and Maddie Gardner.

Ponn started and pitched three innings, allowing just one earned run, followed by Gardner who came on in relief for the next two frames, allowing no hits.

“I thought [Ponn] and Maddie Gardner did a phenomenal job, I think [Ponn] gave up one earned run, or two earned runs, but there were some plays we should have made also,” coach Ken Eriksen said. “Viv was around the strike zone, and Maddie Gardner came in and put a couple zeros on the board also.

“I thought both of them did a great job of ham-and-egging it together, and then you get to your big horse at the end to kill it.”

Eriksen is referring to Corrick, who came in to close out the final two innings of Game 2, putting the finishing touches on a 4-2 victory.

“I don’t think we got greedy [having Corrick close the game] because any time you have the chance to knock a W out, you go for it, and she did a phenomenal job coming in and getting the save on that one,” Eriksen said.

In Game 3, Corrick returned to the mound as a starter, and again posted 17 strikeouts.

“I think she was at 165 pitches today … I think she had 17 Ks again in game two tonight, she did a great job, but she threw 16 innings in two days,” Eriksen said. “We ask a lot of her, she did a great job, we just need to do better at the crossroad situations and executing and getting runners moved.”

Both the Bulls and Owls struggled to get any runs across the plate through the first seven innings of the series finale, but FAU was able to score in the top of the eighth, eventually winning the game 1-0.

Scoring runs and having good at-bats are two areas Eriksen believes the team needs to work on going forward.

“Quality at-bats, I think that when you take a look at our hitters, [they look] discombobulated on timing right now, and that’s not good,” he said. “Hopefully after seven games, our hitters themselves can go back in and look at the videotapes, and take a look at what their bodies are doing. 

“They just don’t seem comfortable for whatever reason, so they’re going to have to translate working in practice to the game, hopefully with more reps that’ll happen.”

Next up for the Bulls is a two-game series against Arizona on March 6-7. Both games are at home and scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Both games against the Wildcats will be televised on ESPN+.