Georgia softball looks to repeat history in underdog role at Florida

Georgia knocked off No. 14 national-seed Duke in Durham, North Carolina, on Sunday by a 5-2 count in that NCAA Tournament regional final to advance to play the Gators and now have a trip to the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) on the line.

“There were some times it didn’t look like it was going to go our way, but we just kept fighting and fighting,” fourth-year UGA coach Tony Baldwin said after his team rallied from a 2-0 first-inning deficit to win 5-2 in eight innings on the strength of Jaydyn Goodwin’s go-ahead home run in the final frame.

“If we can get those two (pitchers, Randi Roelling and Lilli Backes) two throwing the way we did (last) weekend, we’ve got a shot.”

Roelling, a transfer from Cal, was particularly sharp against the Blue Devils, pitching seven shutout innings and scattering three hits after allowing a walk and home run in the first inning of the championship game.

A first meeting

This will mark the first time this season that Georgia and Florida — traditional SEC rivals — have met, as the league utilizes a rotating schedule for softball.

The programs have quite a softball history between them, and their postseason paths recently crossed in a very similar situation.

The Bulldogs made the most recent of their five trips to the World College Word Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City in 2021 after upsetting a No. 13-seeded Duke team in regional play before sweeping a No. 4-seeded Florida team in Gainesville.

The names and faces in both programs have turned over since then, with Baldwin earning himself a promotion from Georgia assistant to head coach in 2022 and Florida making two trips to the WCWS in the past three years.

SEC softball power has indeed remained stronger than ever, adding powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma to the league this season, and boasting eight of the top 10 teams in the RPI rankings at the end of the regular season, and nine of the 16 teams remaining in the NCAA softball tournament.

“What the SEC gauntlet provides for you,” Baldwin said, “is an opportunity to be prepared for when the postseason shows up.”

That certainly proved true for Georgia against Duke, as the program won an NCAA regional on the road for the first time since 2009 after losing the previous four times they opened the NCAA tourney on the road.

The Bulldogs will need to reverse another, more recent, trend to advance to the WCWS: winning an SEC series.

Georgia, which in addition to losing 83% of its hits off last season’s roster had to replace 71% of its home runs and 53% of its pitching wins, didn’t win an SEC series this season.

Florida won five of its eight SEC series, including its most recent home series against four-time national champion and SEC regular-season champion and SEC tourney co-champion Oklahoma.

The Gators also swept through their regional, scoring run-rule victories in each of their three games, beating Mercer 8-0 (five innings) on Friday, Florida Atlantic 14-6 (five innings) on Saturday and Mercer, again, 8-0 (five innings) on Sunday.

The NCAA tournament has not been without its surprises: Two of the SEC’s strongest teams fell victim to elimination.

SEC tourney co-champ and No. 1 overall seed Texas A&M fell twice to Liberty in the College Station regional, while No. 10 seed LSU was upset twice by Southeast Louisiana in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, regional that ultimately was won by Nebraska.

Georgia is one of two SEC teams, however, that won their regional in an underdog role, joining Ole Miss, which eliminated No. 13 seed Arizona.

Here’s a look at the NCAA tournament schedule:

Liberty at No. 16 Oregon

Friday: 10 p.m., ESPNU

Saturday: 7 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2

Sunday (if necessary): TBA

No. 9 UCLA at No. 8 South Carolina

Friday: 1 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday: 1 p.m., ESPN

Sunday (if necessary): TBA

No. 12 Texas Tech at No. 5 Florida State

Thursday: 7 p.m., ESPN2

Friday: 3 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday (if necessary): 7 p.m. ESPN or ESPN2

Ole Miss at No. 4 Arkansas

Friday: 8 p.m., ESPNU

Saturday: 9 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2

Sunday (if necessary): TBA

Georgia at No. 3 Florida

Friday: 11 a.m., ESPN2

Saturday: 11 a.m., ESPN

Sunday (if necessary): TBA

No. 11 Clemson at No. 6 Texas

Thursday: 9 p.m., ESPN2

Friday: 9 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday (if necessary): 9 p.m. ESPN or ESPN2

Nebraska at No. 7 Tennessee

Friday: 7 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday: 5 p.m., ESPN

Sunday (if necessary): TBA

No. 15 Alabama at No. 2 Oklahoma

Friday: 5 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday: 3 p.m., ESPN

Sunday (if necessary): TBA