SB: Dawgs Host Georgia State Tonight

The No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs will host Georgia State on Wednesday night at the Jack Turner Stadium at 6:00 p.m. ET. Georgia enters the midweek at 17-5 while the Panthers trek to Athens with a 12-7 nod.

No. 12/15 Georgia
vs. Georgia State
Location: Athens, Ga.
Venue: Jack Turner Stadium
Date: March 4, 2026
First Pitch: 6:00 p.m. ET
General Admission Gates: 5:00 p.m. ET
Promotion: Wacky Wednesday – Wacky Wigs for first 200 fans

Media Information
Streaming: SEC Network+
                  PxP: Kaleb Frady
Live Updates: GeorgiaDogs.com 
X Updates: @UGASoftball

Leading Off
No. 12/15 Georgia enters this Wednesday’s game against Georgia State after a perfect 4-0 weekend in the 17th Annual Bulldog Classic. Across four games, two each against South Alabama and UNC-Wilmington, the Bulldogs outscored opponents 35-2, and all games were final after five. More, Georgia shut out South Alabama in both contests. 

Following Wednesday’s game, the Bulldogs will hit the road to kick off Southeastern Conference play in Fayetteville, Arkansas, against the No. 13 Razorbacks. This will be the first regular-season meeting between the programs since the 2024 campaign, and the first regular-season meeting between the two schools at Arkansas since the 2023 season.

Series History
Georgia State
– Georgia is 22-4 all-time against Georgia State
– In the last meeting, the Bulldogs won 8-0 (5 inn.) in 2025
– Under Baldwin, Georgia is 4-0 against the Panthers

Georgia in the Polls
Georgia in the Polls: Week Three
     – NFCA/GoRout: 15
     – ESPN/USA Softball: 
     – D1Softball: 15
     – Softball America: 12

Opponent Outlook
Georgia State treks to Athens after a 2-1 series win against the College of Charleston last weekend. The Panthers took game one of the weekend, 3-0, before dropping Saturday’s game, 11-10. In the Sunday rubber match, Georgia State won again in shutout fashion, 7-0.

The Panthers sit at 12-7. Second-year head coach Becca Owens – a former volunteer assistant coach for the Bulldogs during the 2019 season – has guided Georgia State to a strong start this campaign. In her first season in 2025, after the opening 20 games, her side sat at 6-14. Though just short of the 20-game threshold this season, Owens has already doubled her team’s win total through 19 games played.

Senior OF McKenzie Walker has paced the Georgia State offense this season, batting at a .476-clip with 25 runs, 30 hits and 15 RBIs. Junior C/UTL leads the team in home runs with four this year, and senior INF Maya Mumpfield leads the team in RBIs with 25. As a team, the Panthers are batting .373 with 126 runs, 209 hits, nine home runs and 114 RBIs. 

In the circle, junior RHP Makayla Stephens has made a team high 15 appearances with 10 starts this season to go with a 1.78 ERA and 10-3 record. Stephens commands 88 strikeouts on the season against just 10 walks and 19 earned runs. Redshirt senior RHP Briana Bower has made seven starts this season with a 2-2 record and 4.78 ERA.

MBB: Georgia Notches Another Conference Win

The Georgia Bulldogs (21-9, 9-8) rolled past the No. 16 Alabama Crimson Tide (22-8, 12-5) on Tuesday evening in Stegeman Coliseum, 98-88, in front of a sell-out crowd. Sophomore Kanon Catchings led the Bulldogs with 32 points to post a new career high.

Fast Facts:

• In addition to his 32 points, Catchings also posted career-bests in field goals, field goal attempts, three-pointers and three-pointers attempted.
• Blue Cain, Smurf Millender and Kareem Stagg joined Catchings in the double-digits with 16, 12 and 10 points, respectively. Kareem Stagg tied his career high in field goals made, and Justin Abson matched his season high of seven points in a perfect 3-3 night from the field.
• After Alabama cut the lead to five with 9:38 to play – and a 20-minute shot clock malfunction delay – Georgia went on a 9-5 run over the next four and a half minutes to extend the lead to nine. The Bulldog held onto the lead for the eventual 10-point win.
• The contest had eight lead changes, with Georgia leading the entire second half. Georgia outscored Alabama in points in the paint (40-18), second chance points (25-9), rebounds (40-30) and blocks (5-1).
• Georgia moves to 34-34 all-time against the Crimson Tide in games played in Athens. More, the Bulldogs have won two of the last three contests in Stegeman against Alabama.

Key Quotes:
Head Coach Mike White
On Kanon Catchings and the team’s performance…
“Just a high level of confidence. His body language exuded confidence. He wasn’t second guessing himself. He didn’t have any of those delayed decisions. We tried to get a couple of other guys going in the second half, mainly Jeremiah [Wilkinson], and went away from Kanon a little bit. In retrospect, maybe we should have called his number a bit earlier in the second half. He might have had a few more. Kanon gets 33 because our shot selection was better, so much better than it was a couple months ago. We’re passing it well, and we’re spacing it well. Guys are executing what we do as opposed to ‘let me go get one up.’ Getting better this time of year is fun to watch.”

On the Bulldogs’ impressive paint performance…
“Our paint discipline, defensively, was significantly better than it’s been in the last four or five. Being able to shot fake and create angles in isolation situations at a number of different spots – we were good there. We were pretty disciplined at the rim. We did enough.”

#6 | Kanon Catchings | So. | Forward
On the post-game locker-room environment…
“I got in there late because I had to do media, but everybody was just excited. Alabama is a great team. They got me out last year in the Sweet Sixteen, so I feel like that’s a great team. They’ve got great players, and they’ve beat great teams, and we beat them.”

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