The undefeated and 11th-ranked Georgia softball team will compete in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California and will open the tournament with No. 23 BYU on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. ET followed by a second game at 8:30 p.m. versus No. 4 UCLA.
The Lady Diamond Dawgs will then play a doubleheader on Friday with game one versus Notre Dame at 6 p.m. ET and game two versus Northwestern. The Bulldogs will finish out the tournament with a contest against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. All five games will be available to watch live with a subscription to FloSoftball.com.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING BACK ON WEEK 2
Georgia went 7-0 last week to keep its unblemished mark on the field. The Bulldogs hit .447 while outscoring their opponents 66-5. Once on base, the Bulldogs were vicious on the basepaths, stealing 25 bases, as Cortni Emanuel notched 10 of those with Sydni Emanuel grabbing five and Ciara Bryan tallying four. In the circle, Georgia threw four pitchers, as they posted a 0.90 ERA with just five runs allowed. Opponents hit .129 for the week, as each pitcher held their opponent to under a .185 clip.
THE MARCH TO 1,000 WINS FOR LHC
Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer is close to a milestone win, as she heads to California two wins shy of 1,000 career wins. In her 21st year coaching, Harris-Champer holds 998-349-1, a winning percentage of .740. During her tenure at Nicholls State, Southern Mississippi, and Georgia, she has guided her squads to five Women’s College World Series, nine Super Regional and 19 Regional appearances. Originally from California, Harris-Champer has spent 17 of her 21 years at Georgia, accumulating 789 wins with the Bulldogs.
LEADING THE WAY IN THE SEC AND NCAA
Georgia’s stats are some of the best in the league and nation so far this season. The team’s .448 batting average is first in the SEC while trailing Seton Hall for the best nationally, though Seton Hall has played just three games to Georgia’s 12. The Bulldogs are also first among all teams with 106 runs, 129 hits and 42 stolen bases. Georgia also has a few individuals sitting at the top of stat categories. Brittany Gray leads the nation and conference with seven wins in the circle while Alyssa DiCarlo leads all players with 23 RBI while tied with seven home runs. Cortni Emanuel’s speed has her with 18 stolen bases to lead all Division I players.
PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
Three of Georgia’s top hitters last year are picking up right where they left off. Alyssa DiCarlo leads the nation in RBI and home runs. The Glendale, Arizona, native already has seven home runs this year, as she had 11 in her freshman season. She also has 23 RBI after posting 63 a year ago. Cortni Emanuel is off to an equally hot start, sitting at third in the SEC with a .568 average while tied at the top with 21 hits. She led Georgia in hits the past two years as well as stolen bases. She is currently the only SEC player with double-digit stolen bases. Sydni Emanuel had the top batting average in the league last season and is holding at sixth this year with a .526 mark. She is third in hits with 20 and trails just her sister in the league with eight stolen bases. The trio of players has Georgia with three of the best six averages in the SEC and three of the top four in hit totals.
SUMERLIN KNOCKS OUT GRAND SLAM
Sophomore Lacey Sumerlin knocked out her first home run of the year, sending a grand slam over the wall against Dayton on Sunday. It’s the first grand slam of Sumerlin’s career and the first for Georgia this year after the Bulldogs hit eight last season. The Mobile, Alabama, native has eight hits on the year in 23 official at-bats but has been very patient at the plate, as she leads the SEC with 15 walks. The infielder has also had a change in positions. After playing all last season at shortstop, Sumerlin moved this year to first base, starting all 12 games.
GEORGIA OFF TO A HOT START
With a 12-0 record, Georgia is off to a hot start as one of 15 teams remaining undefeated in the NCAA. The last time Georgia was 12-0 was in 2002, as that squad opened the season with 24-consecutive wins. The Bulldogs have started a year with 10-straight wins in each of the past four seasons as well as five in the last seven.
GETTING ON BASE
Georgia has been making its way to base this season, leading the conference with a .530 on-base percentage while second in the nation–again behind Seton Hall–in the stat. Leading the conference in many of those offensive categories, Georgia is also putting the bat to ball, as the team has a total of 19 strikeouts this season, tied for the second-fewest in the SEC while Arkansas and LSU lead at 18. Georgia has had two games this season where no batters recorded a strikeout with the most recent coming against Dayton on Sunday. Prior to this season, the last time the Georgia lineup went without a strikeout was against Ole Miss in April 2015
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