No. 14 Georgia Begins Postseason Wednesday in Auburn

No. (7) Georgia (38-15, 12-12)
at (10) Auburn (27-18, 9-15)
Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2024
First Pitch: 5 p.m. ET
Location: Auburn, Ala.
Stadium: Jane B. Moore Field

Media Information
TV: SEC Network
   Play-by-play: Beth Mowins
   Analysis: Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza
   Sideline: Holly Rowe
Streaming: ESPN app
Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com
Twitter Updates: @UGAsoftball

The 14th-ranked Georgia softball team will travel to Auburn, Alabama for the 2024 SEC Tournament at Jane B. Moore Field.

The seventh-seeded Bulldogs will take on tournament host and No. 10 seed Auburn in the first round on Thursday at 5 p.m. live on SEC Network.

Follow the Bulldogs
- Tuesday and Wednesday's first-round games and Thursday's quarterfinals will air live on SEC Network. Beth Mowins (play-by-play) and Michele Smith with Jessica Mendoza (analysis) will be on the call with Holly Rowe reporting.
- Live stat links can be found on the softball schedule page on GeorgiaDogs.com.
- Live Twitter updates will be available on the official Twitter page of Georgia softball, @UGAsoftball.

BULLDOGS BULLETIN
SEC Tournament Tidbits
- Georgia's all-time SEC Tournament record is 21-25 (.457) in 22 appearances
- Georgia's lone tournament title came in 2014 in Columbia, South Carolina
-This will be the first time Georgia will be the No. 7 seed
- Georgia is 2-0 against Auburn in the SEC Tournament, facing off in 2002 and 2005
- The Bulldogs are 0-1 when the SEC Tournament is held in Auburn (2007); Georgia dropped a 3-2 decision in nine innings to Alabama
- Georgia's 21 SEC Tournament wins and .457 percentage rank sixth and fifth, respectively, in tournament history
- Georgia has reached the tournament finals five times, fourth-most in league history; most recently in 2014 when the Bulldogs won the title
- The Bulldogs have four Championship runner-up finishes (2002, 2004, 2005, 2011)
- Pitching coach Chelsea Wilkinson was the Tournament MVP in 2014 when Georgia won its first and only SEC Tournament championship in Columbia, South Carolina

Series History
- Georgia leads the all-time series 40-26
- The Bulldogs are 20-13 on the road in Auburn
- Georgia is 2-0 against Auburn in the SEC Tournament, facing off in 2002 (Chattanooga) and 2005 (Gainesville)
- The teams last faced each other in 2023 in Athens when Georgia won the series against the Tigers
- The last time Georgia played in Auburn was 2022 when Auburn won the series

Georgia in the Polls
Georgia in the Poll: Week 13
     - USA Today/NFCA: 14
     - ESPN/USA Softball: 14
     - D1Softball: 13
     - Softball America: 14
     - RPI: 6

Recapping Action
Georgia fell to Mississippi State in its final SEC series over the weekend. MSU started the series delivering Georgia its first shutout of the season, 2-0. The UGA bats responded in the second game of the series, putting up five runs while Shelby Walters and Lilli Backes combined for the pitching staff's ninth shutout of the season, 5-0. Mississippi State took an early 2-0 lead in the finale and kept Georgia at bay to win the series finale 2-1.

A Look at What's Ahead
The winner of game four between Georgia and Auburn will advance to game eight to face second-seeded Florida on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET.

Feeling Good
Dallis Goodnight has had the best season of her college career in 2024. Goodnight led Georgia on the season with a .352 batting average and put together a .440 on-base clip with 12 stolen bases. She also led Georgia in batting in SEC play (.379), against Top 25 opponents (.355), and against top 75 RPI teams (.345). In conference play, her .379 average was the fourth-best in the league while she finished eighth with a .446 on-base percentage and seventh with 16 runs scored. She started the final 15 games of the regular season in the leadoff spot in Georgia's lineup.

Congratulations, Grads!
A total of nine Georgia softball student-athletes have completed their degrees from the University of Georgia this May including Ellie Armistead, Sydney Chambley, Lyndi Rae Davis, Hayley Eaton, Jadya Kearney, Madison Kerpics, Sara Mosley, Riley Orcutt, and Shelby Walters (Masters). The nine newest graduates join Jaiden Fields and Sydney Kuma who have already completed their degrees from UGA.

Senior Bats Come Alive for Senior Weekend
The senior class had a big offensive series against Florida in the final home series of the season. Four seniors combined to hit eight of Georgia's nine home runs on the weekend, led by three from Sara Mosley and two each from Jaiden Fields and Sydney Kuma. Of Georgia's 19 RBI on the weekend, seniors were responsible for all but one. Seven seniors combined to hit .347 on the weekend, scattering 17 hits.

Backes Out of the Bullpen
Lilli Backes currently has six saves on the season, the second-most in the SEC. Her six saves is third-most in a single season at Georgia and is already top 10 in career saves. She has finished the second-most games of anyone in the SEC, completing 20 games. She also has appeared in relief the second most; 23 of her 38 appearances have been in relief.

Sara Mosley: The RBI Machine
Sara Mosley currently ranks third in the SEC with 57 total RBI this season, which ranks 15th in the country. Her 1.08 RBI per game is third in the conference and 27th in the country. She has recorded 12 multi-RBI games this season, four of which she drove in five or more runs. Her 220 career RBI rank fifth all-time at Georgia, and she is currently sixth among active Division I players. Her 61 home runs is seven shy of tying Alyssa DiCarlo's record of 69 set in 2019.

No. 14 Georgia Begins Postseason Wednesday in Auburn

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ellie Armistead

Lilli Backes

Sydney Chambley

Lyndi Rae Davis

Hayley Eaton

Jaiden Fields

Dallis Goodnight

Madison Kerpics

Sydney Kuma

Sara Mosley

Riley Orcutt

Shelby Walters

University of Georgia Athletics