Bulldogs ‘Find A Way’ In Win Over Michigan

25SB Frierson Feature - Win over Michigan

February 13, 2025 | Softball, The Frierson Files

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Before Lyndi Rae Davis got it done the loud way with a home run in the bottom of the third inning, five of her Georgia softball teammates worked together to score a pair of runs in the second during the No. 10-ranked Bulldogs' 3-2 win over Michigan in the Red & Black Showcase on Thursday night at Jack Turner Stadium.

After a 2024 season that was in many ways driven by the team's ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, these Bulldogs of 2025 may have to rely on good swings and being smart at the plate and on the base paths to manufacture runs in a way the team may not have had to for a few years. And through six games, they are.

"I think we have some really good hitting instincts, and I think we have a good hitting IQ, so I think that gives us a chance to be a little more variable as an offense," Bulldogs head coach Tony Baldwin said. "I do think that as the season progresses, this team has got some good power, like as much power as we've had in a minute, but we're not going to just rely on that."

It was a chilly, breezy night at the Jack, and the Bulldogs were playing their first home game of the season after opening 2025 last weekend with five wins in Orlando. It's a new-look Jack this season following a $38.5 million upgrade that included a new training facility beyond the left-field fence.

It's also a new-look Georgia team after losing numerous key players from last season's 43-win squad, including longtime sluggers Jayda Kearney and Sara Mosley. Those two first-team All-SEC players — and Kearney was a first-team All-American — combined for 40 home runs and 119 runs batted in last spring. As a team, Georgia hit 92 homers, 86 doubles and nine triples.

The most proven returning players at the plate for the Bulldogs are Dallis Goodnight, Davis and Jaydyn Goodwin. The trio didn't provide the same pop as Mosley or Kearney (or even Sydney Chambley who hit 10 homers), but last season, Goodnight hit .350 and scored 43 runs, Davis hit .256 with 40 RBIs and a team-high 42 walks, and Goodwin hit .299 with 27 RBIs. Davis and Emily Digby are the Bulldogs' top returning bombers with seven home runs each in 2024.

Goodnight, Goodwin and Digby all went deep in Orlando, and Davis belted her first home of the season Thursday. But before Davis went deep in the third inning, her teammates small-balled their way to a 2-0 lead in the second.

Mua Williams ended a 10-pitch leadoff at-bat against Michigan starter Lauren Derkowski by drawing a walk. Digby then singled through to the left side, followed by Tyah Charlton drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with nobody out. After that, Esther White hit a bloop single to right that drove in Williams for the first run of the game. Paislie Allen then drove in Digby with a groundout.

That's four freshmen and a sophomore in Digby showing patience and smarts at the plate to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0. And in the third, Davis, a junior, added her solo shot to right that just cleared the fence.

"That's something that me and Coach Tony have worked on this whole offseason and this whole preseason, getting my swing off on that specific pitch," Davis said, "and seeing it finally show up in the game was super awesome to see."

Georgia's most experienced pitcher with about 500 career innings, senior Lilli Backes, got the start in the circle and pitched 4.0 innings, allowing a run and four hits. In the top of the fifth, with Michigan threatening against reliever Randi Roelling, the left-handed transfer from Cal struck out the final two batters to strand a Wolverine at third and keep the Georgia lead at 3-1. Roelling let out a big roar after striking out Lauren Putz to end the inning.

"It seems like I tend to do that," a laughing Roelling said of her scream.

Roelling said she wasn't feeling good in the circle when she first entered the game, but eventually she found a pitch she liked. She wound up allowing a run on three hits in 3.0 innings to earn the save.

"I just wasn't trusting myself, and then I found this one pitch (her drop), and I just kept going with it," she said.

Davis said one of Baldwin's regular messages is to "scrap, fight, and find a way" to win. The Bulldogs did that Thursday. They host Michigan State at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.