Last regular season series lingers for softball as tourney approaches
It all comes down to this.
The Georgia softball team heads to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on Arkansas for the last series of the 2009 regular season.
Winners of seven of their last eight games, the No. 8 Bulldogs (37-9, 16-7 SEC) look to end the regular season on a positive note and head into next week’s SEC Tournament with a winning attitude.
“That’s why you play in the SEC,” head coach Lu Harris-Champer said. “We play good teams every week, and it allows us to get ready for the postseason.”
The Bulldogs couldn’t have asked for a better time to catch the Razorbacks (27-24, 10-14 SEC), losers of eight consecutive SEC games.
In addition, Arkansas has been able to muster only 10 victories at home this season – the second-lowest home win total in the conference.
“We take in one game at a time,” sophomore pitcher Sarah McCloud said, “But we’re all looking forward to the [SEC] Tournament for sure.”
Georgia still has a lot to play for this weekend in terms of seeding for the SEC Tournament.
One victory clinches the Bulldogs a No. 3 seed, and a sweep of Arkansas coupled with two Alabama losses would make Georgia the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament.
One player the Bulldogs might have to do without this weekend and in the tournament is sophomore second baseman Megan Wiggins, who still is recovering from a broken hand.
The hole left by Wiggins’ absence has been filled by sophomores Alisa Goler and Taylor Schlopy all season.
Goler and Schlopy have a combined batting average of .432 and have accounted for 198 runs this season.
A surprise offensive threat has emerged over the Bulldogs’ last 10 games in the form of freshman catcher Tori Moody, who has a team-leading 13 RBIs over that stretch.
Georgia will depend on continued production from Goler, Moody and Schlopy this weekend as it looks to head to the SEC Tournament with as much momentum as possible.
The Bulldogs and Razorbacks will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 2 p.m., and a single game on Sunday at noon.

