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SB: Georgia Run Rules Kentucky, Advances
SOFTBALL | vs. (13) Kentucky | W, 8-0 (5 inn.)
Winning pitcher: Lilli Backes (14-9)
Losing Pitcher: Carson Fall (6-7)
Season Record: 31-19, 7-16 SEC
ATHENS, Ga. – The 12th-seeded Georgia Bulldogs defeated 13th-seeded Kentucky, 8-0, in five innings to open play at the SEC Tournament at Jack Turner Stadium on Tuesday.
Georgia advances to play fifth-seeded Arkansas on Wednesday. Game Five of the SEC Tournament between Georgia and Arkansas will square off 35 minutes following the conclusion of the 11 a.m. game.
FAST FACTS
- Jaydyn Goodwin went 2-for-3 with four RBI. She tied Georgia’s SEC Tournament record with her four RBI. Paige Wilson drove in four runs against Florida on May 11, 2013, in Lexington.
- Dallis Goodnight also scattered two hits with an RBI in the contest. Goodnight and Goodwin combined for four of Georgia’s eight total hits.
- Lilli Backes pitched the complete-game shutout in the circle, improving to 14-9 on the season. She gave up three hits, struck out six, and walked two.
- Georgia has now won its first SEC Tournament game in back-to-back seasons, the first time Georgia has done so since 2014 and 2015.
- The Bulldogs are 2-1 all-time against Arkansas in the SEC Tournament. The most recent meeting was in 2019 in College Station in the opening round. Georgia won the game 4-1.
KEY QUOTES
Georgia Head Coach Tony Baldwin
Opening statement…
“Really excited to get things started. Shout out to all of the Georgia administration and all of the supporting cast members that have really worked hard to put on a great show. I thought the facility looks amazing, and it was just fun to have all of the buzz and the excitement that the SEC Tournament provides here on our home field. As far as the game goes, I thought Lilli [Backes] did a really good job of establishing command in the strike zone early – probably as few change-ups as we’ve thrown in a minute for her – and that was just a tribute to the fact that she was commanding the other stuff so well. Dallis [Goodnight] was really a spark for us today – got a big hit there in the five-run inning – and Shorty [Jaydyn Goodwin] did what Shorty does. I’m really proud of the way that we played and we got after it. I thought we were pretty free in our competitiveness and we didn’t make it a bigger deal than it is. Overall, I would say this is a crazy, funny game. Sunday, I felt like we hit the ball well for seven innings, and we get shut out, and today we had some things fall in that we’ll certainly take. We’ve taken our fair share of the tough breaks that this game provides, so we’ll take the good breaks today and just enjoy the win and get ready to go again tomorrow.”
On the five-run fourth inning…
“Just proud of the way we were stringing together some at-bats there and made some adjustments. We had talked going into that inning about – Coach Lu [Harris-Champer] used to always say you feel time, you don’t think time when it comes to hitting, and I felt like we were thinking time a lot trying to figure out what we were trying to hit. And so we really talked about making an intent to just time the ball and feel what shows up, and I thought we did a good job in that inning. We got a couple of breaks too. We had a couple of little balls fall in that we’ll take, and otherwise I thought we ran the bases aggressively and we applied pressure in those two big innings.”
#1 Dallis Goodnight | Sr. | OF
On her hit to lead off a three-run first inning…
“Yeah, I mean I was just excited to get going with the tournament at home but just trying to get a good pitch to hit and find my way on base – that’s really my job is just get on base, run the bases. We have many power hitters behind us to hit me in, and it worked out today.”
#99 Lilli Backes | Sr. | LHP
On the grind of the SEC regular season and being at her peak for a game like today…
“I think this season’s been a grind. We’ve been working to improve every day, and every game we’ve done a little bit better, so it was awesome for us to come out today and everything seemed to come together at the right time.”
Video Highlights 1
Video Highlights 2
Georgia’s Postgame Interviews
UP NEXT
Georgia advances to play fifth-seeded Arkansas on Wednesday. Game Five of the SEC Tournament between Georgia and Arkansas will square off 35 minutes following the conclusion of the 11 a.m. game.
MBB: Cal Transfer, Georgia Native Jeremiah Wilkinson Signs With UGA
Jeremiah Wilkinson, the 2025 ACC Sixth Man of the Year for Cal, has signed to join the Georgia Bulldogs for the 2025-26 season, head coach Mike White announced on Tuesday.
Wilkinson, a 6-1, 185-pound guard from Powder Springs, Ga., was tabbed as the ACC’s best player off the bench and also named to the ACC All-Rookie team after averaging 15.1 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 27.3 minutes of action per game for the Golden Bears. He posted double-figure scoring tallies in 25 contests, including 18 of 20 ACC contests, and also notched 10 20-point performances and a pair of 30-point outbursts.
Among freshmen, Wilkinson finished the season ranked second in the ACC and 12th nationally in scoring average. After scoring just 11 points in Cal’s first four games, Wilkinson exploded for 23 points against Air Force on Nov. 21. Over his final 28 games, he averaged 16.9 points. Wilkinson moved into the Golden Bears’ starting lineup on Jan. 22 and started his final 14 outings, contributing 19.5 points during that span.
Wilkinson recorded season highs of 36 points, four assists against Notre Dame, six boards, and five steals versus Stanford.
Wilkinson ranks among Cal’s most productive freshmen ever. His 10 20-point outings is the second most ever by a Golden Bear behind only Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Among Cal freshmen, he also ranks No. 3 in scoring average (15.1), No. 3 in 3-pointers (60), No. 5 in free throws (110), and No. 6 in field goals (157).
Wilkinson played his junior and senior seasons of high school basketball for The Skill Factory in Atlanta. As a senior, he averaged 33.5 points, 5.2 boards and 4.8 assists while leading TSF to a 27-4 record. As a junior, Wilkinson averaged 13.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists for TSF, which finished 20-9.
Georgia is coming off its best season in a decade during White’s third season in Athens. The Bulldogs earned their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2015, finishing 20-13 overall. Georgia won a school-record 15 games at Stegeman Coliseum and improved to 41-13 (.759) in the arena under White.
The Bulldogs did so while facing one of the nation’s most challenging schedules. Georgia played a nation-leading eight regular-season games against top-10 teams, with five of those on the road. Over 60 percent of the Bulldogs’ 33 games were against NCAA Tournament teams (20 of 33 = .606). The Bulldogs’ win total includes victories over teams ranked No. 1 (Florida), No. 11 (St. John’s), and No. 12 (Kentucky) in the final AP poll.
Georgia is slated to return six letterwinners from last season’s team, led by starters Blue Cain and Dylan James as well as Justin Abson, Somto Cyril, Jaden Newell and Brandon Klatsky.
In the fall, the Bulldogs signed a trio of highly rated prep prospects who combined are ranked as the nation’s No. 18 class by 247Sports.com and No. 20 by ESPN.com. Jackson McVey is a 7-1 center from Eliijay, Ga., who played at Overtime Elite this season and is ranked No. 194 in the On3Sports.com industry comparison. Kareem Stagg is a 6-8 power forward from Chesapeake, Va., who played for IMG Academy as a junior and senior and is ranked as high as No. 68 nationally by 247Sports.com. Jacob Wilkins is a 6-9 small forward from Loganville, Ga., and Grayson High School who is ranked as high as the No. 35 prospect in the Class of 2025 by Rivals.com and is the son of former Georgia All-American and Naismith Hall of Fame member Dominique Wilkins.
Georgia’s 2025-26 season home schedule is expected to feature 18 games, including the matchup against arch-rival Georgia Tech and nine SEC dates. The renewal process for existing season ticket holders will begin in July. Information on new season tickets is available here.
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