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SB: No. 6 Georgia (0-0) hosts the 17th Annual Red & Black Showcase beginning today
Dates: Friday, Feb. 9-Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024
Participating Teams:
Murray State (0-0)
South Dakota (0-0)
Purdue (0-0)
Location: Athens, Ga.
Stadium: Jack Turner Stadium
Admission: FREE (no tickets required / seating is first come, first served)
Complete Tournament Schedule
Friday, Feb. 9
10:30 a.m. – Murray State vs. Purdue
1 p.m. – South Dakota vs. Purdue
3:30 p.m. – Murray State vs. Georgia
6 p.m. – South Dakota vs. Georgia
Saturday, Feb. 10
10:30 a.m. – South Dakota vs. Murray State
1 p.m. – Murray State vs. Georgia
3:30 p.m. – Purdue vs. Georgia
6 p.m. – Purdue vs. South Dakota
Sunday, Feb. 11
9:30 a.m. – South Dakota vs. Murray State
12 p.m. – Purdue vs. Georgia
Media Information
Streaming: SEC Network+ (Georgia games only)
Play-by-play: Jack Sadighian
Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com
The sixth-ranked Georgia softball team opens the 2024 season this weekend in Athens, hosting the 17th Annual Red & Black Showcase at Jack Turner Stadium.
The 10-game tournament begins Friday morning and features the Bulldogs, Murray State, South Dakota, and Purdue.
Fan Information and Upcoming Promotions at Jack Turner Stadium
» Admission to every regular-season home game is free, no tickets are required for entry to Jack Turner Stadium. Seating is first come, first served. Gates open one hour prior to first pitch or one hour before the first game of the day for home tournaments.
» For the 2024 season, parking is available in the lot closest to S. Milledge Ave. The back lot is closed due to construction.
Series Histories
Murray State
» Georgia leads the all-time series 1-0
» Georgia won the lone meeting on Feb. 6, 2015 in Athens, 8-0 in six innings
South Dakota
» First meeting
Purdue
» Georgia leads the all-time series 8-0
» The Bulldogs are 4-0 at home in the series; the last four meetings have all been in Athens
» Purdue came to Athens in 2022; Georgia won both meetings in five innings each, out-scoring the Boilermakers 21-1.
Georgia in the Polls
Georgia’s preseason rankings:
– USA Today/NFCA: 6
– ESPN/USA Softball: 6
– D1Softball: 6
– Softball America: 6
Dogs Returning Big Numbers
Georgia returns all position players from last season’s Super Regional team including All-Americans Jayda Kearney, Sydney Kuma, and Sara Mosley. The trio combined for 45 percent of Georgia’s run production and accounted for 52 percent of Georgia’s home runs. Each hit over .340 and slugged north of .700. In all, the Bulldogs return 96 percent of their home runs and 97 percent of their RBI from last season. In the circle, 90 percent of Georgia’s total innings pitched return in 2024.
Bulldog Trio Named to USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
Jayda Kearney, Sara Mosley, and Shelby Walters were named to the Top 50 Watch List for 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. The 2024 Top 50 Watch List highlights athletes from 28 universities and six athletic conferences with the SEC leading all conferences with 21 athletes.
Bulldogs Picked Second in SEC Poll
Georgia was picked to finish second in the SEC by the league’s head coaches. The Bulldogs received six first-place votes en route to 136 points, one point shy of preseason favorite Tennessee (137 points, six first-place votes). Jayda Kearney, Sydney Kuma, Sara Mosley, and Shelby Walters were tabbed Preseason All-SEC.
Kearney, Baldwin Lead USA to International Success
Jayda Kearney and Tony Baldwin each joined USA Softball and the Women’s National Teams over the summer. Baldwin began the season in July in Ireland when USA punched its ticket to the World Cup Finals held in Italy July 15-21, 2024. The Eagles brought home the Gold at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in November. In August, Kearney was invited to take part in the Japan All-Star Series. She hit .222 (2-for-9) with a home run, two RBI, and scored twice.
Transfer Class Highly Praised
The transfer class of catcher Sarah Gordon (Louisville), left-handed pitcher Lilli Backes (North Carolina), and right-handed pitcher Rachel Gibson (Clemson) was ranked the eighth-best transfer class by D1Softball in the fall.
Three Bulldogs Recognized as Preseason All-Americans
D1Softball named Jayda Kearney and Sara Mosley to its First Team Preseason All-America Team with a Second Team nod to Shelby Walters. Softball America named Kearney (First Team) and Mosley (Second Team) to its Preseason All-America teams.
Baldwin Bolsters Coaching Staff
Tony Baldwin added Assistant Coach Amber Freeman and Director of Player Development Nick French to the coaching staff in the offseason. Additionally, former Bulldog Mackenzie Puckett has returned to Athens as a graduate manager this season while working towards her Masters in Sport Management at UGA.
Dogs Team Up with Marucci Sports
The University of Georgia teamed up with Marucci Sports to be the official bat provider for the baseball and softball programs, it was announced in September. The multi-year deal encompasses bats and selected other products for the Georgia baseball and softball programs. Georgia softball is the first program in the SEC to partner with Marucci.
Construction Ongoing at Jack Turner Stadium
Construction will be ongoing throughout the 2024 season on a $38.5 million, 20,000-square foot student-athlete facility at Jack Turner Stadium. The building, being construction beyond the left field fence, will include a locker room, lounge and meeting rooms, nutrition space, equipment room, training room, as well as a space with a full infield practice space and four hitting lanes and a weight room. The project is expected to be completed in the fall.
WBB: Mississippi State tops UGA 76-57
Despite three players in double figures, led by a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds from Javyn Nicholson, the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 76-57, Thursday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.
Nicholson has now reached double figures in scoring in 22 of 23 games this season. Taniyah Thompson added 11 points, while De’Mauri Flournoy and Asia Avinger added 10 a piece.
Georgia returns home to host Vanderbilt at noon ET Sunday inside Stegeman Coliseum. It will be a special day in Athens, as the Lady Bulldogs pay tribute to their 1999 NCAA Final Four Team. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free Final Four t-shirt.
On Thursday, State hit six of its first eight shots from the field and built an early 12-10 lead in the first quarter. Nicholson quieted a 9-0 MSU run, sinking a 19-foot jumper to cut the damage to 21-14.
The State Bulldogs finished the first quarter shooting a blistering 65-percent from the field, but two Flournoy free-throws with .3 seconds on the clock kept Georgia close at 23-19 at the end of the first period.
Georgia got within two points in the second frame, but Avinger picked up her second foul, and the Lady Bulldogs allowed State to go on a 7-0 run. MSU’s Jerkaila Jordan led the home team with 11 points help Mississippi State build a 39-30 halftime lead.
Nicholson heated up in the second half, scoring eight points in the first five minutes of the third quarter to cut State’s lead to 45-38. That was as close as Georgia would get the rest of the way as MSU beat the Lady Bulldogs, 76-57.
WTennis: No. 4 UGA opens Women’s National Team Indoor Championships against No. 12 Ohio State today
The No. 4-ranked Georgia women’s tennis team is set to open the first round of the ITA DI Women’s National Team Indoor Championships against No. 12 Ohio State on 12 p.m. PST at the Seattle Tennis Center.
Georgia (2-2) will open up as the 7-seed out of 16 programs competing in the four-day, bracket-style tournament.
After drawing the Buckeyes (5-1) in the first round, the Bulldogs are set to compete against their third top 15-ranked opponent in their last five matches.
Georgia faced off against the Ohio State under a no-team-scoring format at the Michigan Invitational in early January, where it won four of seven singles matches and one of four
doubles matches.
The Bulldogs will aim to make another run for the title after finishing runners-up in last season’s edition of the tournament and last winning the competition in 2019.
Match Notes
- Georgia had seven Bulldogs in the latest ITA rankings. In singles, Dasha Vidmanova led the way at No. 38 followed by Alexandra Vecic (No. 48), Mell Reasco (No. 66), Mai Nirundorn (No. 111) and Anastasiia Lopata (No. 114). In doubles, the Bulldogs had two pairings in the mix led by Mert/Vidmanova at No. 31 and Nirundorn/Grant at No. 32.
- No. 38 Dasha Vidmanova has three wins against ranked opponents this season, tallying her second-highest ranked win on Sunday against then-No. 20 Tanya Sasnouskaya
- No. 111 Mai Nirundorn is riding a three-match winning streak in singles play, all coming at the No. 6 spot.
- The duo of Aysegul Mert and Dasha Vidmanova jumped up 27 spots to No. 31 in the most recent ITA women’s doubles rankings (prev. No. 58) after winning three of their last five matches, including a win against then-No. 8 Miller/Brown (Michigan).
- No. 111 Mai Nirundorn and Aysegul Mert lead the Bulldogs in singles and doubles wins with 17 and 14 respectively.
- No. 66 Mell Reasco has won six of her last eight singles matches this season and moved up 50 spots in the latest ITA women’s singles rankings (prev. No. 116).
ITA DI Women’s Indoor Championships
Date: Friday, Feb. 9 to Monday, Feb. 12
Time: All day
Location: Seattle, Wash.
Venue: Seattle Tennis Center
Live Video: https://gado.gs/bch
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