Saturday, May 18
Athens, Ga.
11 a.m.
University of Georgia
40-17
3
vs
7
Liberty
38-23
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Georgia
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
3
5
1
Liberty
1
2
0
4
0
0
X
7
8
0
Georgia Survives and Advances in Athens Regional
May 18, 2024 | Softball
Game 1 - Softball | vs. Liberty | L, 3-7
Winning pitcher: Elena Escobar (16-5)
Losing pitcher: Shelby Walters (9-8)
Game 2 – Softball | vs. Charlotte | W, 5-0
Winning pitcher: Lilli Backes (16-6)
Losing pitcher: Sam Gress (14-10)
Season Record: 41-17
Georgia Survives and Advances in Athens Regional
ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 11 national seed Georgia softball team fell to the Liberty Flames in Game 3 of Athens Regional, 7-3, then shut out Charlotte in an elimination game, 5-0, to advance to Sunday's Regional final round.
The Bulldogs and Flames will square off again on Sunday at noon airing on ESPN2. Georgia must win to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
Game 1 Fast Facts
• During the game, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced its All-Region Teams. Seniors Jayda Kearney and Sara Mosley were named Second Team All-Southeast Region, while graduate Sydney Kuma earned a spot on the Third Team All-Southeast Region. This is the third appearance on the All-Region Teams for all three student-athletes in their careers.
• Dallis Goodnight led off the game with a home run, her second home run of the season and the fifth of her career. A Georgia batter last led off a game with a home run when Lyndi Rae Davis did it against Jacksonville State on March 9.
• Sara Mosley was the lone Bulldog with multiple hits, scattering two. It was her 19th multi-hit game, and Mosley widened her hit streak to six games.
• This is Georgia's first loss as the host school in a regional since 2016 in Game 6 of the Athens Regional. Georgia won Game 7 against the Cowgirls to advance to the Super Regional round.
Game 2 Fast Facts
• Lilli Backes pitched a complete-game one-hit shutout of Charlotte. It was her ninth complete game and third shutout of the season. Backes last one-hit an opponent in seven innings at Ole Miss on March 23. She walked just one batter and struck out three.
• Backes' one-hit shutout comes just one day after Madison Kerpics threw a one-hit shutout against UNCW on Friday.
• Sara Mosley knocked her 19th home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth. It was number 64 of her career, moving her closer to the record of 68 held by Alyssa DiCarlo. The home run lengthened her hit streak to seven games.
• Five different Bulldog hitters each drove in one run while Sydney Kuma scattered two hits.
Key Quotes
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the competition in day two of the Athens Regional...
"Hats off the Charlotte on a great season. They really finished on a roll there at the end, they have a good coaching staff and good players. It's never fun to see them, see the other team, finish up their season, but I'm certainly glad that it's us moving on. Really proud of the way that we bounced back. Super proud of Lilli [Backes] coming back and throwing the way that we know she can and then just continuing to grind through and having quality at-bats and finally breaking through and putting some runs on the board. It was a great bounce back and here we are. We're gonna go be ready to go again tomorrow."
On the message to the team after the loss...
"Well, initially, we licked our wounds a little bit and picked ourselves back up. At the end of the day, the message was that we couldn't let one game beat us twice. And so, we had to fix our mindset and get ourselves back into a place to be ready to go compete because what had been done was done, and the game doesn't know who's supposed to win. And so, this afternoon, we had to just come out and play as if it was the only game of the day. The most important game of the day is the one that we're playing."
On the Athens Regional final tomorrow...
"We just have to come ready to fight. That's when you find out what kind of competitor you are, when your back's up against the wall. I think we showed a little bit of that tonight. It's gonna have to be ultimately a 14-inning or more kind of a day for us, but it starts with just one inning at a time. Just trying to win an inning and move on to the next and win that inning, and just whatever it takes. That's the mindset. Whatever we got to do to get to play another day. We got to fight like heck to do it."
Sydney Kuma | Gr.
On the change of hitting from the first to the second game…
"I would just say it's a real mindset type of switch, like you got to fight. My hits weren't the best hits today, but I found a way on and tried to score for my team. I think even just leading into tomorrow, I would just try to find a way to get on. It doesn't need to be hit over, like a home run, just find a way on, and that's what's going to happen."
Lilli Backes | Jr.
On pitching multiple times in one weekend…
"I just go out there and compete every time I'm given the ball. I trust my defense and my coaches."
On her performance in the circle…
"I felt like my rise ball and my changeup were on. First game, not so much, and I made some adjustments for the second game."
Up Next
Georgia and Liberty will square off again on Sunday at noon, airing on ESPN2. Georgia must win to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
Winning pitcher: Elena Escobar (16-5)
Losing pitcher: Shelby Walters (9-8)
Game 2 – Softball | vs. Charlotte | W, 5-0
Winning pitcher: Lilli Backes (16-6)
Losing pitcher: Sam Gress (14-10)
Season Record: 41-17
Georgia Survives and Advances in Athens Regional
ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 11 national seed Georgia softball team fell to the Liberty Flames in Game 3 of Athens Regional, 7-3, then shut out Charlotte in an elimination game, 5-0, to advance to Sunday's Regional final round.
The Bulldogs and Flames will square off again on Sunday at noon airing on ESPN2. Georgia must win to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
Game 1 Fast Facts
• During the game, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced its All-Region Teams. Seniors Jayda Kearney and Sara Mosley were named Second Team All-Southeast Region, while graduate Sydney Kuma earned a spot on the Third Team All-Southeast Region. This is the third appearance on the All-Region Teams for all three student-athletes in their careers.
• Dallis Goodnight led off the game with a home run, her second home run of the season and the fifth of her career. A Georgia batter last led off a game with a home run when Lyndi Rae Davis did it against Jacksonville State on March 9.
• Sara Mosley was the lone Bulldog with multiple hits, scattering two. It was her 19th multi-hit game, and Mosley widened her hit streak to six games.
• This is Georgia's first loss as the host school in a regional since 2016 in Game 6 of the Athens Regional. Georgia won Game 7 against the Cowgirls to advance to the Super Regional round.
Game 2 Fast Facts
• Lilli Backes pitched a complete-game one-hit shutout of Charlotte. It was her ninth complete game and third shutout of the season. Backes last one-hit an opponent in seven innings at Ole Miss on March 23. She walked just one batter and struck out three.
• Backes' one-hit shutout comes just one day after Madison Kerpics threw a one-hit shutout against UNCW on Friday.
• Sara Mosley knocked her 19th home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth. It was number 64 of her career, moving her closer to the record of 68 held by Alyssa DiCarlo. The home run lengthened her hit streak to seven games.
• Five different Bulldog hitters each drove in one run while Sydney Kuma scattered two hits.
Key Quotes
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
On the competition in day two of the Athens Regional...
"Hats off the Charlotte on a great season. They really finished on a roll there at the end, they have a good coaching staff and good players. It's never fun to see them, see the other team, finish up their season, but I'm certainly glad that it's us moving on. Really proud of the way that we bounced back. Super proud of Lilli [Backes] coming back and throwing the way that we know she can and then just continuing to grind through and having quality at-bats and finally breaking through and putting some runs on the board. It was a great bounce back and here we are. We're gonna go be ready to go again tomorrow."
On the message to the team after the loss...
"Well, initially, we licked our wounds a little bit and picked ourselves back up. At the end of the day, the message was that we couldn't let one game beat us twice. And so, we had to fix our mindset and get ourselves back into a place to be ready to go compete because what had been done was done, and the game doesn't know who's supposed to win. And so, this afternoon, we had to just come out and play as if it was the only game of the day. The most important game of the day is the one that we're playing."
On the Athens Regional final tomorrow...
"We just have to come ready to fight. That's when you find out what kind of competitor you are, when your back's up against the wall. I think we showed a little bit of that tonight. It's gonna have to be ultimately a 14-inning or more kind of a day for us, but it starts with just one inning at a time. Just trying to win an inning and move on to the next and win that inning, and just whatever it takes. That's the mindset. Whatever we got to do to get to play another day. We got to fight like heck to do it."
Sydney Kuma | Gr.
On the change of hitting from the first to the second game…
"I would just say it's a real mindset type of switch, like you got to fight. My hits weren't the best hits today, but I found a way on and tried to score for my team. I think even just leading into tomorrow, I would just try to find a way to get on. It doesn't need to be hit over, like a home run, just find a way on, and that's what's going to happen."
Lilli Backes | Jr.
On pitching multiple times in one weekend…
"I just go out there and compete every time I'm given the ball. I trust my defense and my coaches."
On her performance in the circle…
"I felt like my rise ball and my changeup were on. First game, not so much, and I made some adjustments for the second game."
Up Next
Georgia and Liberty will square off again on Sunday at noon, airing on ESPN2. Georgia must win to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: ESCOBAR, Elena (16-5)
L: Walters, Shelby (9-8)
Batting:
HR: Goodnight, Dallis 1
RBI: Goodnight, Dallis 1 ; Kuma, Sydney 1 ; Goodwin, Jaydyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Goodnight, Dallis 1 ; Eaton, Hayley 1 ; Kearney, Jayda 1
HBP: Davis, Lyndi Rae 1
Batting:
2B: McMANUS, Brynn 2
3B: FORTNER, Megan 1
HR: ROBERTS, Brooke 1
RBI: McMANUS, Brynn 3 ; FORTNER, Megan 1 ; ROBERTS, Brooke 2 ; CRAINE, Rachel 1
SF: FORTNER, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ROUPE, Rachel 2 ; BARRETT, Raigan 1 ; MADREY, KK 1 ; ROBERTS, Brooke 2 ; HEIDORN, Lilly 1
HBP: CRAINE, Rachel 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballGeorgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Game 3 Postgame Press Conference
Monday, May 26
Georgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Game 2 Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, May 24
Georgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Game 2 TV Highlights
Saturday, May 24
Georgia Softball vs Florida NCAA Super Regional Postgame Press Conference
Friday, May 23
