Georgia softball shut down Florida in prime time on Saturday, topping the No. 3-nationally seeded Gators 2-1 on Saturday.

It was the biggest upset of the NCAA Super Regionals to this point, as oddsmakers had put UGA as the biggest long shot remaining in the field to win the Women’s College World Series.

The Bulldogs (35-21) win forces a third and decisive game that will be played on Sunday at 4 p.m. (TV: ESPN) in this NCAA Tournament Super Regional being played in Gainesville.

Lyndi Rae Davis opened the scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning off starter Keagan Rothrock.

Rothrock (15-6), masterful on Friday, was pulled with no outs in the second inning after Emily Digby added another run with a solo home run.

Georgia senior pitcher Lilli Backes (16-10), a North Carolina transfer originally from Peachtree City, Ga., was sensational in the circle making those two runs hold up against Florida (46-15).

Backes fanned eight batters -- seven of them swinging -- and stranded 13 runners on base with her clutch pitches.

" I thought we came out with some fire to start the game and had a good plan," said Tony Baldwin, who is looking to get Georgia to the WCWS for what would be the first time in his tenure as the program’s head coach.

“We got a couple good swings off, and then Lilli really was the story today of how resilient she is.”

Every time Backes was challenged, with the end of her softball career likely on the line, she escaped. It was one jam after another, from the first inning on when Florida loaded the bases with no outs, and Backes fanned the next two hitters.

“That was huge for the team, I think that just gave us some momentum going into the bottom of the first,” Backes said, “and then Lyndi (Rae Davis) had the big home run, and that got momentum on our side.”

Backes, on the day, scattered seven hits and five walks in her 6 1/3 innings of work.

This, against a Florida team that entered the day averaging nine runs per game in the NCAA tournament.

Georgia sophomore Randi Roelling, a transfer from Cal, came clutch in the seventh inning in relief of Backes, who had thrown 127 pitches in the 90-degree plus heat and taken a line drive off her shoulder at the start of the seventh inning.

Roelling, the losing pitcher in Friday’s 8-1 loss, inherited runners on first and second and a one-run lead when she came out of the bullpen.

Roelling induced Florida’s Korbe Otis to fly out to center, but UGA veteran Dallis Goodnight was not able to get off a strong throw, as the runners advanced to second and third.

The game was on the line for Roelling against Gators’ hitter Keleigh Cahalan, a transfer from Alabama.

Roelling came through, firing a pitch in that Cahalan popped up to second to end the game.

Georgia, despite three fielding errors and two controversial overturned calls that went against them, had survived.

It was a significant win for Baldwin, who had put himself in the line of some critics on Friday by declining to embrace questions about the greatness of Florida softball.

“They’re a good team, they’re not the ’27 Yankees, they’ve had a lot of good teams here at Florida,” Baldwin had said when asked how tough the Gators are to deal with.

“I’m not trying to short-sell them at all, but we’re also not going to come in and kiss the ring and bow down and say how are we ever going to beat these guys.”

Indeed, Baldwin had a pretty good idea, as his coaching staff and players were rested and prepared for what proved to be one of the bigger wins in recent program history.

Georgia, which upset No. 14-seed Duke in Durham, N.C., to reach the Gainesville Regional, is now just one win away from reaching the Women’s College World Series for what would be the first time since 2021.

The Bulldogs are 5-1 all-time against Florida in NCAA Super Regional action, sweeping the Gators in 2021 and 2016 en route to makingthe WCWS those seasons.

“If they learn anything about wearing the G,” Baldwin said of his team, “it’s that you better be a competitor and you better be resilient.”