Four-time defending national chanpion and No. 1-ranked Oklahoma enters as SEC tourney favorite

ATHENS — Georgia softball begins its postseason run at home this week playing host to the SEC Softball Tournament.

The 24th-ranked Bulldogs (30-19) are the No. 12 seed and will play in the SEC tourney opener against No. 13-seed Kentucky (29-25) at 1 p.m. in Jack Turner Stadium (TV: SEC Network) looking to play their best softball of the season.

Ole Miss, seeded 11th, plays No. 14-seed Missouri in the second and on Tuesday at Jack Turner Stadium 35 minutes following the conclusion of Georgia’s game. After that, it’s No. 10 seed Alabama facing No. 15 Auburn in the third and final game on Tuesday.

“We’re optimistic we can make a run here,” UGA coach Tony Baldwin told DawgNation. “Based on how we’ve played against the top teams, we have the ability to win, and we just have to put it together at the right time.”

Most all of the top teams in the nation will be competing to win the SEC Softball Tournament, as the field features eight of the top 10 ranked teams in the NCAA RPI.

The conference depth is such that five different SEC teams have held the No. 1 ranking in media polls this season.

Four-time defending national champ and new SEC member Oklahoma is the current No. 1 as rated by ESPN, D1 Softball and in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, while Arkansas is No. 1 acceding to Softball America.

Georgia, while not winning a series this season, also avoided any three-game sweeps against SEC competition, proving the Bulldogs can indeed compete with and beat anyone in the field.

“The outcomes, a lot of times in this league, can mask progress,” Baldwin said. “I think the real exciting thing for this group is that, while it hasn’t always been the outcomes we’ve wanted, they’re competing their tales off.”

It’s a young Georgia team that lost the core group of veterans that had carried the program to lofty rankings and deep postseason runs.

In all, the Bulldogs had to replace 83 percent of last year’s hits, 71 percent of the home runs in the 2024 season and 53 percent of the pitching wins.

Georgia has been led this season by Jaydyn Goodwin, Sarah Gordon and Dallis Goodnight at the plate, the trio topping UGA in batting average, runs and total bases.

Georgia will turn primarily to Randi Roeling (9-7, 3.40 ERA, 123.2 innings pitched) and Lilli Backes (13-9, 3.54 ERA, 128.2 innings pitched) in the circle.

“To get hot at the end of the season, there is a recipe, your pitchers have to get hot and that means executing pitches and controlling the strike zone,” Baldwin said. “Defensively, we have to take care of the ball …. In postseason, they have to earn everything they get.

“And then it’s timely hitting and creating offensive opportunities. It’s hard in this league to string together four, five or six hits.”

Georgia has a 20-10 mark at home this season, and Baldwin is hoping the home field and home crowd will help provide the necessary spark for the Bulldogs to advance to play No. 5-seed Arkansas on Wednesday.

“We’ve beaten really good teams, we know we can do it, so it’s been learning each series and staying together — better than any team I’ve ever been on,” Goodnight said.

“Rankings don’t matter come postseason, as long as we play together and keep growing together and individually, we have a shot at doing something special.”

The Wednesday SEC tourney action begins with No. 8-seed Mississippi State playing No. 9-seed LSU at 11 a.m, with the winner of the UGA-Kentucky matchup facing the Razorbacks 35 minutes after the Wednesday opener’s conclusion.

Florida, seeded No. 6 and coming off a home series win over No. 1-ranked Oklahoma, plays the winner of the Ole Miss-Missouri game at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The final Wednesday game features No. 7-seed South Carolina against the winner of the Alabama-Auburn game.

Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas and Tennessee — the SEC Softball Tournament’s top four seeds — begin play on Thursday.