The Gainesville softball team is learning to win without All Area pitcher Leanna Bourdage, who is out indefinitely with an injury.

On Tuesday night at Cindy Boulware Park, they were taught a valuable lesson in a 5-2 win by visiting Suwannee (Live Oak).

The mistakes and missed opportunities are more glaring without Bourdage (19-4 in 2024 with a 0.57 earned run average and 251 Ks), whose status this season is uncertain, and they were a big contributor in the Bulldogs rallying from a 2-1 deficit after four innings.

“I thought we needed to make better adjustments with our at-bats, too many pop-ups and fly balls,” said GHS coach Chris Chronister, whose team is coming off a Class 5A state championship game appearance in 2024. “Defensively, we’ve been struggling with some errors this season, that cost us in a couple of innings, and then not coming through with the clutch hit. We had runners on in certain situations and just couldn’t come up with the big hit. Give them [Suwannee] credit. They got the hits when they needed them and they got the runs. We just need to play better.”

Suwannee (2-1) scored four unanswered runs over the final three innings.

“We came out with a game plan which was pretty simple, just put the ball in play,” said Suwannee coach Greg Gabey, who is in his third season. “Pitching early on, we started hitting pretty well and then kind of got flat, but we changed our game plan, backed off the plate a little bit. We started seeing they had a big shift in the outfield, tried to hit everything backside and they succeeded with the game plan.”

The Bulldogs, who only have two seniors this year, took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as GHS pitcher Josie Kirwan gave up three consecutive singles to left field.

On just the second pitch of the game, Bulldogs’ center fielder Brianna Stephens, who nearly hit for the cycle (single, double, triple), had a double to left field. An error by the left fielder put her at third base.

“Bri is always a game-changer for us,” Gabey said. “She’s a junior, so we look forward to having her for two years. She plays travel ball with us as well.”

Stephens (3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs) came home on a single by catcher Addison Petersen.

GHS answered in the bottom of the second inning.

Hawthorne transfer Madisyn Gillins led off the inning with a single, went to second on an error, and scored on a single by Santa Fe College signee McKenna O’Sullivan (2-for-3, RBI).

Then, in the fourth, Kirwan and junior Adriana Koralewski (2-for-3) began the inning with back-to-back infield hits.

With two outs, Gillins (2-for-4, RBI, one run) singled to center field to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the game at 2-1.

“Madisyn is a great addition for our team,” Chronister said. “She plays pretty good shortstop. She did have an error tonight, but she covers a lot of ground. It’s a tough position to play but she has been a big help for us, and her bat this year is going to make a big difference for us.”

Meanwhile, Kirwan had settled down after the three singles and proceeded to retire the next 12 batters in a row.

“She pitched great,” Chronister said. “I was very happy with her pitching performance tonight. She did a really good job, not really giving up big hits. She gave up the triple down the line which was a tough one, but other than that she didn’t really give up a lot of hits and kept them off the bases for the most part.”

It was the triple that ended up being the game-winning hit.

Suwannee shortstop Emalyn Watley led off the inning with a single to center field, ending Kirwan’s streak.

Following a ground out, left fielder Kirsten Yaun reached on an error when a good throw from Gillins at shortstop was dropped at first base by Koralewski.

The top of the order was next and Stephens crushed the ball down the right field line for a 2-run triple scoring Watley and Yaun for a 3-2 lead.

GHS stranded nine runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth, plus a wild pitch and an error contributed to two more runs for the Bulldogs with two outs in the final inning.

“We talked about that,” Chronister said. “Everybody just needs to take responsibility for their position, play their game, do their job, and at the end of the day if we have a solid defensive performance, I think we’ll be in a lot better shape.”

On Thursday, Suwannee heads to Williston, while GHS will travel to Santa Fe (Alachua) looking to avoid its first 0-4 start since 2023 when they finished 6-14.

“It’s tough,” Chronister said. “They’re trying to figure things out right now. They’re going to have to dig deep into their souls and see how much they really want to play softball because this is probably going to be our season. This is what it’s going to look like and they’re going to have to play better to win.”