UGA softball head coach Lu Harris-Champer announced the Bulldogs’ 2018 schedule on Monday. The 2018 campaign will be the Bulldogs’ 22nd season in Athens.
Georgia will face off against 15 NCAA Tournament participants from a season ago including hosting the national runner-up and SEC rival Florida. Eight teams finished ranked in the top 25 with two in the top five.
The 56-game schedule features 36 games at Turner Softball Complex including three tournaments and four Southeastern Conference series against Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, and Alabama. Midweek matchups feature Georgia Tech, Western Carolina, Bucknell, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, Georgia State, and USC-Upstate. Mercer is also set to come to Athens for a non-conference series.
Georgia opens the 2018 season in Tempe, Arizona as part of the Kijkawa Classic on Feb. 8. Of UGA’s five opponents in Tempe, four were NCAA Tournament participants a season ago including Oregon, Utah, BYU, and Oregon State.
The Bulldogs come home to Athens to host three tournaments. Wintrhop, Samford, and Evansville comprise the 11th Annual Red & Black Showcase Feb. 16-18. The College of Charleston, East Tennessee State, and Gardner-Webb come to Athens for the 15th Annual Georgia Classic. After a midweek doubleheader at Winthrop on Feb. 28, Radford, Jacksonville State, and UNC-Greensboro visit Athens for the 9th Annual Bulldog Classic.
SEC play begins in Athens against Arkansas with a Saturday-Monday series, Mar. 10-12. Florida comes to town the next weekend. Missouri treks to Athens Apr. 6-8. The final home series of the season will be against the Alabama Crimson Tide Apr. 27-29.
The Bulldogs will be on the road for conference series at Mississippi State (Mar. 23-25), Tennessee (Mar. 31-Apr. 2), Kentucky (Apr. 20-22), and Ole Miss (May 4-6).
The SEC Tournament will be held May 9-12 in Columbia, Missouri, hosted by the Missouri Tigers at the new Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Georgia will look to make its 17th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in May.
CLICK HERE for the online 2018 UGA Softball schedule.
CLICK HERE for the 2018 UGA Softball PDF schedule.