Dates: Feb. 7-9, 2020
Location: Athens, Ga.
Stadium: Jack Turner Softball Stadium
Georgia’s Tournament Schedule:
Friday – vs. Howard, 3:30 p.m. | vs. Kent State, 6 p.m. Saturday – vs. Kent State, 1 p.m. | vs. UNCW, 3:30 p.m. Sunday – vs. UNCW, 12:30 p.m. | vs. Howard, 3 p.m.
Media InformationStreaming Video: SEC Network+ Play-by-play: Karlie Smith
The 16th-ranked Georgia softball team opens the 2020 season at Jack Turner Stadium when it plays host to the 13th Annual Red & Black Showcase beginning Friday.
Georgia will host Howard, Kent State, and UNCW in the season-opening tournament in Athens. Georgia will face all three teams twice in the 11-game tournament at Jack Turner Stadium.
This Weekend’s Promotions» 2020 Georgia softball schedule magnets will be available at all games» Admission to every home regular season Georgia softball game is FREE
Follow the Bulldogs» All Georgia games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ via ESPN.com and the ESPN app. Karlie Smith will call play-by-play. » Live stats will be available for all games. Live stat links can be found on the softball schedule at GeorgiaDogs.com.» Live Twitter updates will be available at the official Twitter page of Georgia softball, @UGAsoftball.
BULLDOGS BULLETINSeries Histories
Howard » First meeting Kent State» Georgia leads all-time series 6-0 » Four meetings came in Athens (2008, 2014) » Georgia and Kent State first met in 2007 in HawaiiUNCW» Georgia leads all-time series 5-0» First ever meeting was during Georgia’s inaugural season in 1997 in Rock Hill, South Carolina» Last four meetings were all in Athens, most recently 2017
Georgia in the Polls The Bulldogs earned a preseason ranking of #16 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll while coming in at a similar spot of #17 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com Poll. D1Softball ranked the Bulldogs #15 and Softball America gave Georgia a #16 ranking.
A Full February The Bulldogs will begin the season with a full slate in the month of February. Georgia will play 24 (17 in Athens) of its 56 regular season games this month, that’s over 40 percent of the regular season. Of those 24 games, the Bulldogs will face four preseason top 25 opponents in #4 UCLA, #14 Northwestern, #18 Texas Tech, and #20 James Madison.
Trio of Bulldogs Appear in Softball America’s Top 100 Lacey Fincher (#72), Ciara Bryan (#83), and Justice Milz (#93) appear in Softball America’s 2020 Top 100 Players list, released prior to the start of the season. 2020 is the second season in a row the Bulldogs have landed three in the top 100 list.
Georgia Tabbed Sixth in SEC Preseason Poll The Georgia softball team was picked sixth in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll with 84 points in the poll. Alabama drew 11 of the 13 first-place votes en route to being named the SEC preseason favorite, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Tennessee, who picked up the other two first-place votes, was picked second. LSU came in third followed by Kentucky and Florida.
One Last Go in the Red & Black Georgia carries a total of seven seniors on the 2020 roster. That total is tied for the largest senior class in the SEC with Alabama (six seniors, one grad). Entering the 2020 season, Georgia’s senior class has accumulated a record of 125-55 and has been to the Women’s College World Series once in 2018.
Homegrown Bulldogs Of the 23 members of this season’s roster, a total of 14 hail from the state of Georgia (60 percent). That percentage ranks second in the SEC of in-state players only to Texas A&M (80% Texas natives). In all, Georgia’s roster is made up of student-athletes from eight states. The only other states producing multiple Bulldogs is California (3) and Alabama (2).
Softball Boasts Strong 2020 Signing Class Extra Innings Softball ranks the class as the fourth-best signing class in the nation as the class features five of its Elite 100 players and eight on its list of top 200. The class features infielder Ellie Armistead, infielder Cayla Bishop, infielder Aniyah Black, catcher Payden Bordeau, outfielder/first baseman Sydney Chambley, outfielder Hayley Eaton, outfielder Jayda Kearney, pitcher Madison Kerpics, pitcher Riley Orcutt, and pitcher Britton Rogers.