Georgia Opens 2023 Season in Orlando Thursday

No. 15/13 Georgia (0-0)
at the Black & Gold Classic
Dates: Feb. 9-12, 2023
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Stadium: UCF Softball Complex
Georgia's Schedule:
   Thursday, Feb. 9
     6 p.m. – at #18 UCF
   Friday, Feb. 10
     11 a.m. – vs. Ohio State
     1:30 p.m. – vs. Boise State
   Saturday, Feb. 11
     9 a.m. – vs. UMass
   Sunday, Feb. 12
     9 a.m. – vs. Boise State

Media Information
Streaming: ESPN+ (Thursday)
Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com
Twitter Updates: @UGAsoftball

The Georgia Bulldogs will open the 27th season of softball in Athens, Thursday evening against No. 18 UCF in Orlando, Florida.

No. 15/13 Georgia is set to take on the host Golden Knights, Ohio State, Boise State, and UMass in Orlando as part of the Black & Gold Classic. The Bulldogs will play five games in four days on opening weekend.

Follow the Bulldogs
» Thursday's season opener against UCF will stream live on ESPN+.
» Live stat links can be found on the softball schedule at GeorgiaDogs.com.
» Live Twitter updates will be available on the official Twitter page of Georgia softball, @UGAsoftball.

BULLDOGS BULLETIN
Series Histories
UCF
» Georgia leads the all-time series 2-1
» The Bulldogs and Golden Knights opened the 2022 season in Orlando. UCF won the opener 7-6 in eight innings.
» The previous meeting was also a one-run game in 2017, also in Orlando with Georgia winning 6-5
Ohio State
» Georgia leads the all-time series 5-1
» The last meeting was in 2017 in Orlando at the UCF Tournament
Boise State
» First meeting
UMass
» Georgia leads the all-time series 6-2
» The Minutewomen visited Athens in 2019 and 2022, Georgia winning all four games
» Before 2019, the Bulldogs and Minutewomen had not met since 2005

A Look at What's Ahead
The Bulldogs will open the 2023 home schedule Feb. 17-19 hosting the 16th Annual Red & Black Showcase. Georgia will welcome No. 17/14 Stanford, St. John's, and Charlotte in the 10-game round robin tournament. The Bulldogs will take on Stanford and St. John's Friday, Feb. 17 to open tournament play.

Georgia in the Polls
Georgia's preseason rankings:
     - USA Today/NFCA: 15
     - ESPN/USA Softball: 13
     - D1Softball: 10
     - Softball America: 12
     - SEC Preseason Poll: 6 of 13

Dogs Returning Big Numbers
Georgia broke the program record of home runs in 2022, blasting 107 on the season. The 2023 team returns 79 (74%) of its home run production from last year. Of its run production from 2022, the offense returns 74 percent of its RBI (281 of 384).

Mosley, Kearney Named to USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
USA Softball unveiled the Top 50 Watch List for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year on Jan. 25. Senior Sara Mosley and junior Jayda Kearney were recognized on the list. The Top 25 Finalists will be announced April 19.

Trio of Bulldogs Earn Preseason All-SEC Honors
Three Georgia softball student-athletes earned recognition on the 2023 Preseason All-SEC Team. Seniors Sara Mosley and Sydney Kuma along with junior Jayda Kearney were voted to the Preseason All-Conference Team by the league's head coaches. The Bulldogs joined Florida, LSU, and Tennessee as the only teams to put three players on the 21-member Preseason All-SEC Team.

Transfer Class Highly Praised
Georgia's transfer class of RHP Shelby Walters (Duke), outfielder Dallis Goodnight (Alabama), and catcher/utility Ally Kurland (Penn State) was ranked the fifth-best transfer class by D1Softball.

Three Bulldogs Recognized as Preseason All-Americans
Sara Mosley, Jayda Kearney, and Sydney Kuma have been recognized as Preseason All-Americans by Softball America heading into the 2023 season.

Quartet of Bulldogs Receive Praise in Preseason Player Rankings
Seniors Sara Mosley and Sydney Kuma have been ranked in three top 100 player rankings by publications D1Softball, Softball America, and Extra Inning Softball. Graduate transfer Shelby Walters landed on D1Softball's list while junior Jayda Kearney received praise from Softball America, landing 43rd on the ranking.

Goodwin, Howard are 'Names to Know'
Freshmen Jaydyn Goodwin and Destin Howard were two of D1Softball's '55 Freshmen Names to Know Heading into 2023.' Goodwin will bring plus-speed both in the field and the base paths while Howard will bolster the Bulldogs' pitching staff this season.

Bulldogs Have Strong Fall Term in the Classroom
The Georgia Softball team put together a program record 3.49 Fall term team GPA last semester. The team's record GPA aided in a best-ever 3.22 Fall term GPA by the Georgia Athletic Association and was fifth-best among 11 women's programs.

All-American Danielle Gibson Whorton Joins Softball Staff
All-American Danielle Gibson Whorton joined Tony Baldwin's staff as the volunteer coach for the 2023 season. She will work with the offense and outfield. Gibson Whorton was a two-time All-American at Arkansas (2021, 2022) and was a finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and the Honda Sport Award for Softball as a senior. She earned multiple conference and NFCA All-Region honors both at Arkansas and Arizona State in her career.

# @UGAsoftball #

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Players Mentioned

Dallis Goodnight

Jaydyn Goodwin

Destin Howard

Jayda Kearney

Sydney Kuma

Ally Kurland

Sara Mosley

Shelby Walters