Link to Article on The Red & Black
By Olivia Sayer
Fans use Pom poms during an NCAA college softball game between Florida and Georgia at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Georgia, on Sunday, April 28, 2024. Florida won 10-7. (Photo/Mady Mertens: @MadyMertensPhotography)
Georgia softball was selected to host a Regional in the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament, a selection show on ESPN2 announced Sunday evening. The 11th-seeded Bulldogs will host the Group of 5’s UNC Wilmington, Charlotte and Liberty at Jack Turner Stadium in the Athens Regional. All three teams are the conference champions for their respective leagues.
Charlotte and Liberty will play Friday at 3 p.m., while Georgia and UNC Wilmington will follow with a game at 5:30 p.m. The Regional round is double elimination, and the winner will advance to face the Los Angeles Regional champion in the Super Regionals.
After starting the season with a blazing 29-5 record, the Bulldogs dropped 10 of their last 19 games in the regular season to eliminate themselves from top eight contention. In the SEC Tournament, Georgia defeated Auburn in 14-innings before falling to eventual champion Florida in the quarterfinals.
Georgia’s first-round opponent UNC Wilmington finished the season 33-21. The Seahawks won the Coastal Athletic Association championship, after scoring three runs in the top of the seventh. The win earned UNC Wilmington the CAA’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Charlotte also won its respective conference with a 10-1 win in the American Athletic Conference championship game. The win earned the Niners a second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Liberty won both its regular-season and tournament titles in its first season in Conference USA. The Flames faced Charlotte prior in the season and secured a 6-5 victory. They have the second-toughest strength of schedule and tied a program record with four wins over top-25 teams.
All 13 SEC teams earned a bid into the Tournament, as Vanderbilt does not compete in softball. The conference has three of the top eight seeds and half of the 16 Regional hosts. The top two seeds, Texas and Oklahoma, will also join the conference next season. 64 teams in total were invited to participate.
It is Georgia’s first time hosting back-to-back regionals since the Bulldogs hosted three straight from 2014-2016. It is Georgia’s 22nd consecutive Tournament appearance and third under head coach Tony Baldwin. The Bulldogs most recently advanced to the College World Series in 2021.