Athens, Ga. – Shortstop Ellie Armistead's fourth-inning grand slam broke open a 2-1 game as 15^th-ranked Georgia claimed a 9-2 victory over Furman in the non-conference finale for both schools on Wednesday evening at Turner Softball Field.
 
Two walks and a hit batter helped Georgia (38-11) load the bases against Paladin stater Emme Buzhardt with two outs in the bottom of the fourth with the Bulldogs leading 2-1. Armistead, the No. 9 hitter in the UGA order, ambushed the first pitch she saw and lined the offering inside the left field foul pole for a grand slam to stake the Bulldogs to a 6-1 advantage. 
 
Another leadoff walk in the top of the fifth helped set the table, and Georgia used two singles, a Furman throwing error and a sacrifice fly to extend the margin to 8-2. Georgia added a final run in the bottom of the sixth, while three Bulldogs relievers limited Furman to just a single hit over the final three innings.
 
Buzhardt (4-2) was charged with five earned runs on five hits over four innings to absorb the loss for Furman. The freshman issued three walks and fanned two batters. 
 
Georgia's Lauren Mathis (4-3) struck out nine batters and surrendered two runs over four-plus innings in the circle to earn the victory. She gave up four hits and walked three Paladins.
 
Ashlee Lykins put Furman in the lead with a two-out single in the top of the second inning that plated freshman Caitlin Goldwait, who had reached base on a single. Lykins, 2-for-3 on the night, drew a walk and scored on a base hit to center field by Alex Rose Molinar in the top of the fifth before lacing a double over the centerfielder's head in the seventh inning.
 
Jayda Kearney singled, walked three times and scored a pair of runs to join Armistead in fueling UGA's nine-hit attack.
 
Furman (18-27, 6-6 SoCon) will travel to Southern Conference leader UNCG for a three-game series this weekend. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader in Greensboro, N.C., is set for 1 p.m. Sunday's series finale is also scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.