Georgia Softball Poised for NCAA Minneapolis Regional

#14/16 Georgia (40-17)
at NCAA Minneapolis Regional
Dates: May 17-19, 2019
Friday's Pitch Time: 7 p.m., ET
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Stadium: Jane Sage Cowles Stadium
Regional Participants:
     #7 Minnesota (41-12)
     Georgia (40-17)
     Drake (42-14)
     North Dakota State (42-14)

Media Information
TV: ESPN / ESPN 2 / ESPN U
     Play-by-play: Courtney Lyle
     Analysis: Amanda Scarborough
Streaming Video: Watch ESPN / ESPN app
Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com
Twitter Updates: @UGAsoftball

Tournament Central Website

Georgia softball will make its 18th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this week as the Bulldogs travel to Minneapolis for regional action. #14 Georgia will open tournament play Friday against #25 Drake at 7 p.m., ET.

National seed #7 Minnesota hosts the regional that also features North Dakota State. The Minneapolis Regional is the only regional in the field that features three teams ranked in the most recent USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and all four teams to have 40 or more wins.

Follow the Bulldogs
» The Minneapolis Regional will air nationally on the networks of ESPN. Courtney Lyle and Amanda Scarborough will be on the call from Minneapolis.
» All games will be streamed live via Watch ESPN and the ESPN app.
» Live stats will be available for the Minneapolis Regional. 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 BULLETIN
Series Histories
Minnesota
» Georgia leads the all-time series 4-2
» The Bulldogs and Gophers first met in North Carolina in 1998. The teams have met five times since, all in Athens (2010, 2012, 2016)
» Minnesota won the first-ever meeting as well as the most recent
» The Bulldogs and Gophers have never met in the postseason
Drake
» Georgia leads the all-time series 2-0
» The only meetings came back on Mar. 25, 1998 in Athens; Georgia won 2-0, 1-0
North Dakota State
» Georgia leads the all-time series 2-1
» All three meetings have been in Athens, first in 2011 then twice in 2013
» North Dakota State won the last meeting, 3-0

NCAA Tournament Tidbits
» Georgia softball will make its 18th-consecutive NCAA Regional appearance this weekend
» Georgia is 67-37 all-time in NCAA Tournament action, advancing to 10 Super Regionals and four Women's College World Series. The 2009 and 2010 seasons saw the Bulldogs advance to the Final Four
» In regional action alone, Georgia is 48-17
» In regionals away from Athens, Georgia is 21-11 all-time. Georgia has swept regionals on the road twice, 2008 and 2009
» Georgia will appear in Minneapolis for the NCAA Tournament for the first time
» In 17 Regional appearances, Georgia has been on the road eight times. Three of those eight saw the Bulldogs emerge to go on and play in a Super Regional (2008, 09, 14). Only once has Georgia opened on the road in regional play and advance to a Women's College World Series (2009)

A Look Back
Georgia trekked to College Station, Texas for the SEC Tournament last week. The Bulldogs opened play against Arkansas on Thursday. Georgia defeated the Razorbacks 4-1 for its first SEC Tournament win since 2015. The Bulldogs had to turn around to play that evening against top-seeded Alabama. The eight-inning game saw the Tide walk off, 2-1, ending Georgia's six-game winning streak.

Georgia in the Polls
The Bulldogs dropped a spot to #14 in the week 14 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll while jumping a spot to #16 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com Poll.

DiCarlo a Top 10 Finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Senior Alyssa DiCarlo has been named a top-10 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. She becomes only the second Bulldog to earn a top-10 finalist spot. The 2019 season is the seventh season Georgia has placed a student-athlete in the top 25. Alisa Goler (2009) is Georgia's only other top-10 finalist in the history of the award. DiCarlo is one of four from the Southeastern Conference to appear on the list. The Top 3 Finalists will be announced on May 22. The 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed May 28.

Three Bulldogs Earn All-SEC Honors
Senior Alyssa DiCarlo was chosen by the league's head coaches as a First Team All-SEC performer. Junior Ciara Bryan earned Second Team All-SEC accolades while rookie Lacey Fincher gained a spot on the Freshman All-SEC Team. DiCarlo, a native of Glendale, Arizona, concludes her career as a four-time All-SEC performer, this is her third time on the First Team, earning Second Team as a sophomore in 2017. Bryan makes her debut on an all-conference team in 2019. A native of Covington, Georgia, Bryan has been Georgia's top hitter in league play, hitting a team-best .310 while slugging .521 against conference opponents. In the field, Fincher began the season starting as the designated player before taking over duties at first base in early March. She's made appearances at short, behind the plate, and in the outfield throughout the season.

Avant Lands on SEC Community Service Team
Junior Mary Wilson Avant was named to the 2019 SEC Softball Community Service Team. Avant, a pitcher from Macon, Georgia, has participated in such community service events such as the Special Olympics of Northeast Georgia including the Hometown Rivals baseball game, UGA HEROs where she has fundraised and served as a committee member with the purpose of improving the quality of life for children infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS, and Shop With A Bulldog where she has served as a mentor and raised funds to assist in providing clothing and personal supplies for underprivileged children.

Congrats, Grads!
Four Georgia softball student-athletes including Kylie Bass (Human Development and Family Science), Kendall Burton (Communication Studies), Cortni Emanuel (Masters in Sport Management), and Brittany Gray (Communication Studies) all earned their degrees at Commencement services Friday, May 10.

Thank you, Seniors!
Georgia honored the careers of two seniors who played their finals regular season games at Jack Turner Stadium: Kylie Bass and Alyssa DiCarlo. The two will go down among the best to wear the Red & Black. Bass will finish among career top-10 performers in ERA, wins, appearances, opponent batting average, and strikeouts. In her senior campaign, DiCarlo has broken Georgia's career records for home runs, RBI, extra-base hits, and total bases while raking among the top-10 in batting average, hits, at bats, runs, doubles, slugging, on-base percentage, walks, sacrifice flies, and assists.

The Dogs Are Grand
Georgia has hit six grand slams this season, the most since 2016 when he Bulldogs hit eight in the season, the most dating back to the 2005 campaign. Freshman Savana Sikes owns two of the six hit this season. Three have come in the month of April.

No Runs for You!
The Georgia pitching staff secured shutouts in three of their final nine SEC games including two against #15 Ole Miss. The Bulldog staff ranks 10th nationally and second in the SEC with 18 shutouts this season.

Bulldogs Offense Nationally
Georgia currently ranks among the nation's best in scoring (19th, 6.19 runs per game), 19th in slugging percentage (.517) and 25th in on base percentage (.397). Additionally, the Bulldogs rank 19th with 1.25 home runs per game. Individually, Alyssa DiCarlo is seventh in the nation in home runs (21) and 10th in total bases (142), fifth in slugging (.910).

DiCarlo Leads Active Career Leaders in RBI and Total Bases
Senior Alyssa DiCarlo leads active Division I softball student-athletes with 248 RBI, and 535 total bases. In additional categories, she ranks second in home run (66) and fifth in doubles (55), and eighth in games played (242).

DiCarlo Drafted #4 Pick by Chicago Bandits
Shortstop Alyssa DiCarlo was drafted by the Chicago Bandits in the NPF Draft on Apr. 15. DiCarlo was taken as the fourth-overall pick of the 2019 NPF Draft. DiCarlo becomes the 14th player drafted out of Georgia in the history of the NPF Draft. 2019 is the fourth-straight year a Bulldog has been chosen in the draft and the sixth in that span. The Bandits have drafted three players from Georgia in the history of the draft, the first being Megan Wiggins in 2011. DiCarlo will join Georgia assistant coach Rachele Fico on the Bandits along with former Bulldog Kristyn Sandberg.

Coaching Milestones
Lu Harris-Champer won her 1,100th career game on Apr. 17 against Georgia Tech. Harris-Champer ranks fourth among active coaches in the SEC behind Ralph and Karen Weekly (1,384; 1,106) and Jo Evans (1,217). The Apr. 20 win over Tennessee was Harris-Champer's 300th-career SEC win, second-most in the league. The win over Arkansas in the SEC Tournament on May 9 was Harris-Champer's 900th at Georgia.

Harris-Champer's 100th career win came at Georgia Tech on Mar. 27, 1999. 20 years later, win 1,100 was against the Yellow Jackets.

Fincher Named to Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25 List
Lacey Fincher was named one of 25 to the Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year list. Fincher, a native of Tanner Williams, Alabama, is the first Bulldog to appear on the list since Cortni Emanuel in 2015. She is one of four from the SEC, the league with the most finalists on the list. In the field, Fincher has started the majority of games at first base while seeing time at shortstop, in the outfield, and even behind the plate.

DiCarlo Topples Career Records
Senior Alyssa DiCarlo now owns four of Georgia's career records. In the Mar. 10 game against Western Illinois at Jack Turner Stadium, DiCarlo became Georgia's new all-time home runs leader. In the first inning at Auburn (Mar. 29), DiCarlo doubled down the left field line to plate CJ Landrum, breaking the career RBI record. The extra-base hits record fell in the series finale against Texas A&M (Apr. 7) with a two-run home run in the first inning. Finally, she broke the total bases record with a home run in the seventh inning at South Carolina (Apr. 27), that tied the game up when the Bulldogs were down to their final two outs.

Georgia Softball Poised for NCAA Minneapolis Regional

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Players Mentioned

Mary Wilson Avant

Kylie Bass

Ciara Bryan

Kendall Burton

Alyssa DiCarlo

Cortni Emanuel

Lacey Fincher

Brittany Gray

CJ Landrum

Savana Sikes