Link to Article on The Red & Black
By Olivia Sayer
The softball team gathers in a huddle before an NCAA college softball game between the University of Florida and Georgia at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Georgia, on Friday, April 26, 2024. Florida won 9-1. (Photo/Callie Clark @cm_photography_co)
A promising season came to a premature end Friday evening at Easton Stadium. Georgia softball fell to UCLA 6-1 in game two of the Super Regionals. The loss knocked the Bulldogs from the NCAA Tournament and ended the careers of 10 Georgia seniors.
“I’m just proud of every single one of them,” junior catcher Lyndi Rae Davis said. “And just the way that they all competed. I think a lot of times we had our backs against the wall this year, more than once, and the way we completed when the times were tough says a lot about our team and our seniors.”
After beginning the season 15-1, Georgia jumped out to a dominant 29-5 record. The Bulldogs featured one of the top offenses in the nation and ranked third entering their series with Arkansas at the end of March. Georgia also entered with a five game winning streak, including a three game sweep at Ole Miss.
The Razorbacks held Georgia to just two runs in its series-opening loss. From there, the Bulldogs’ season took a turn, as they alternated wins and losses for 13-straight games.
The typically feared offense began to slow down, as Georgia’s opponents held it to less than 10 runs in 20 of its remaining 21 games in the regular season. Prior to that series, Georgia scored in double digits eight times.
The lack of offense provided some concern for the postseason, but the Bulldogs showed signs of breaking out in the NCAA Athens Regional.
“Hitting is contagious,” head coach Tony Baldwin said prior to the Regional. “There’s a lot of mental and mindset piece of that. I feel like we’ve started to free ourselves up a little bit and just compete for the team.”
In two games of the Super Regional, UCLA held Georgia to just one run on eight hits. All of the Bulldogs’ knocks stayed inside of the ballpark.
After the Bruins took an early 1-0 lead in game two, Davis singled past a diving second baseman to tie the game in the bottom of the first. UCLA responded in the top of the second, using small ball to retake a one-run lead.
After Georgia starter Madison Kerpics walked the Bruins’ No. 3 hitter on four straight pitches, Lilli Backes replaced her in the circle with runners on first and second. Backes got a pop up to end the inning, but a scoreless frame from the offense kept the score at 2-1.
Backes worked around both traffic and injury in the top of the third. When attempting to turn a double play, senior second baseman Sydney Kuma appeared to roll her ankle. The injury ended Kuma’s season and required Georgia to shift its defensive alignment.
After the game, Baldwin did not have an update on the injury. He mentioned how proud he was of Kuma’s growth.
“Nobody at her high school had ever gone on to play division one athletics,” Baldwin said. “Not only did she flourish on the softball field, but she’s graduating, and she set herself up for the rest of her life as a young woman.”
After Georgia went three up, three down, UCLA extended its lead with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth. By the seventh inning, the Bruins had a 6-1 lead.
After Backes struck out Savannah Pola to begin the seventh, Riley Orcutt entered the game. Playing in her home state, the senior secured the final two outs to keep Georgia’s deficit at five.
Davis began the bottom of the seventh with a single, but it was too little too late for the Bulldogs. Three outs later, what began as a promising season came to an end. It also marked the end of an era for a senior class that spent the majority of its time in Athens.
“I would have liked to have some more hits and score some more runs tonight,” Baldwin said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t change the fact that [the seniors] have grown a lot. I’m incredibly proud of them. I love them to death, and I’m looking forward to giving them one more hug before it’s all said and done.”
Now, Georgia sets its sights to the offseason, as the Bulldogs look to bounce back from their early exit. The challenge will be doing so with several new faces, but the 10 seniors left a solid foundation to build upon.
“Ultimately, they’re defined by a lot more than just their outcomes,” Baldwin said. “The mark that they’ve left is that they showed up and gave their all for the ‘G’ every time they had an opportunity. And that’s all you could ever ask.”