ATHENS, Ga. --- After trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the No. 6 national seeded Georgia softball team scored five runs in the fifth, then added another in the sixth, to clinch Game 1 of the best of three series against the No. 11 national seed Ohio State with a 6-4 win Thursday night in the NCAA Athens Super Regional and an ESPN2 national television audience.

It is the third time this season the Bulldogs (43-10) have come back to win a game trailing after four innings.

“It was an exciting game,” Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer said. “It's what you expect in a Super Regional game. It took us a while to get the bats to wake up. (Sarah) McCloud did a great job of hitting her spots when we brought her in. "We will take a win on any day, especially against a team like Ohio State.”

Ohio State opened the scoring in the top of the first when Georgia senior starter Christie Hamilton walked the bases loaded with one out. The Buckeye runners advanced one base when sophomore reliever Sarah McCloud was called for an illegal pitch, scoring Vanessa Spears to give OSU a 1-0 lead.

Ohio State (47-10) added to its lead in the top of the third. Sam Marder was intentionally walked to start the inning, then Whitney Cooper reached on an infield single to third. Buckeye right fielder Courtney Pruner then hit a three-run home run to right to give Ohio State a 4-0 lead.

After struggling in the first four innings, the Bulldog offense came to life in the bottom of the fifth. Leading off the inning was sophomore Alisa Goler, who ripped an 0-1 pitch off the right field foul pole to make the score 4-1. After sophomore Megan Wiggins singled, then reached second on a fielding error by the left fielder, sophomore Brianna Hesson doubled to score Wiggins to make the score 4-2.

Next, freshman Kristyn Sandberg singled sending Wiggins to third and leaving Georgia with runners on the corners. Freshman Ashley Pauly then grounded into a fielder’s choice, reaching first as the shortstop tried to throw out Sandberg at home. The throw went wild and Georgia plated its third run of the inning.

Georgia scored the fourth and tying run of the inning when sophomore pinch hitter Jennie Auger grounded out to second, with Sandberg scoring from third on the play to make the score 4-4. The Bulldogs then took the lead when sophomore Taylor Schlopy singled home Pauly, making the score 5-4.

The Bulldogs’ offensive surge continued in the bottom of the sixth as Goler once again led off an inning with a home run, this time to right center field, giving Georgia a 6-4 lead and the final run of the game. Goler now has 23 home runs on the season and is now tied for the Southeastern Conference record for single-season RBI with 79 (Charlotte Morgan, 2008). It was the fifth multi-home run game of the season for Goler.

McCloud came in relief to pitch 6.2 innings to earn the win, moving her to 17-2 on the season. Lindsay Bodeker pitched two innings for Ohio State to suffer the loss, dropping her record to 16-5.

The Bulldogs and Buckeyes will square off at least once more Friday. Game 2 of the series will be played at 4:30 p.m. ET, with the ‘if necessary’ third game to be played at 6:30 p.m. in the best-of-three series. The games will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.