University of Georgia Athletics
Goodwin Collecting Moments To Remember
March 06, 2025 | Softball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Jaydyn Goodwin is aware that the clock is ticking on her Georgia softball career. It's not ticking loudly for the junior left fielder, but she can still hear it. In her words, she's "on the back side of my college time — that's crazy."
There is still a long way to go this season for Goodwin and the No. 13-ranked Bulldogs, plus all of next season. If this were a women's basketball game, it would be early in the third quarter. Plenty of time for great and interesting things to happen.
Georgia (18-2) opens SEC play this weekend with a three-game series against No. 7 Tennessee (19-3) at Jack Turner Stadium. Heading into conference play, Goodwin is one of three Bulldogs batting a team-high .429. In 63 plate appearances, she has 27 hits, 22 RBIs and she's hit four home runs, a team-high four triples, and three doubles. She's also scored a team-high 22 runs.
"I'm feeling really good," she said of her play through the first 20 games. "It's not even outcome-wise, but I think mentally, this is the best I've been — and I think it shows. I think that's what's been really big for me, and what I'm focusing on."
Goodwin, from Paris, Ky., started 42 games as a freshman, hitting .274 with seven home runs, eight doubles, 28 runs scored, and 16 RBIs. Last season, she hit .299, drove in 27 runs, scored 22 times, and had 10 doubles and three homers.
Through 20 games this season, she's already matched her runs scored total from 58 appearances in 2024, as well as exceeded her homer total by one, and she's hitting for a much higher average. Whatever she's doing, it's working well.
There has been a lot of work on her hitting, of course, but improving and adjusting the mental part of the game has been just as important for her. Softball, like baseball, is a game of failure. Neither Goodwin nor anyone else is going to succeed every time they come to the plate, or even come close to that, just as every pitcher is going to see runners on base around her from time to time.
With experience and maturity comes knowledge and understanding, and in Goodwin's case, "grace."
"I'm just giving myself grace; I know this is a long season and there are still long-term goals to get to," said Goodwin, whose older sister Jaycee plays at Georgia State. In the short term, she said, every small success or failure is "not really that big of a deal. We've got a long way to go, and everything's okay. Just giving myself grace really is a big thing for me."
With her big smile and warm demeanor, Goodwin is a valuable part of the Bulldogs' roster and team culture in the dugout and the locker room.
"She's amazing. I mean, really, she's everything you could ask for," sophomore shortstop Emily Digby said. "She's there for you as a teammate, she's there for you outside of softball; she's really energetic, just really happy. Whenever you see her smile, it makes you want to smile."
And Goodwin has had a lot of reasons to smile this season. Along with her other great batting numbers, Goodwin leads the team with a .794 slugging percentage and she has the most multi-hit games (8) and is tied for the lead in most games with more than one RBI (7).
In the Bulldogs' 10-2 run-rule victory over Michigan State last month, it was Goodwin's three-run blast that ended the game in the fifth inning. She had three hits and four RBIs in the walk-off win.
"I didn't go to the plate thinking, I'm going to walk it off," she said. "I just went up there and was like, just get on base."
As it turned out, she touched them all. It was a moment to remember, one of many she's had, with many more to come.
Staff Writer
Jaydyn Goodwin is aware that the clock is ticking on her Georgia softball career. It's not ticking loudly for the junior left fielder, but she can still hear it. In her words, she's "on the back side of my college time — that's crazy."
There is still a long way to go this season for Goodwin and the No. 13-ranked Bulldogs, plus all of next season. If this were a women's basketball game, it would be early in the third quarter. Plenty of time for great and interesting things to happen.
Georgia (18-2) opens SEC play this weekend with a three-game series against No. 7 Tennessee (19-3) at Jack Turner Stadium. Heading into conference play, Goodwin is one of three Bulldogs batting a team-high .429. In 63 plate appearances, she has 27 hits, 22 RBIs and she's hit four home runs, a team-high four triples, and three doubles. She's also scored a team-high 22 runs.
"I'm feeling really good," she said of her play through the first 20 games. "It's not even outcome-wise, but I think mentally, this is the best I've been — and I think it shows. I think that's what's been really big for me, and what I'm focusing on."
Goodwin, from Paris, Ky., started 42 games as a freshman, hitting .274 with seven home runs, eight doubles, 28 runs scored, and 16 RBIs. Last season, she hit .299, drove in 27 runs, scored 22 times, and had 10 doubles and three homers.
Through 20 games this season, she's already matched her runs scored total from 58 appearances in 2024, as well as exceeded her homer total by one, and she's hitting for a much higher average. Whatever she's doing, it's working well.
There has been a lot of work on her hitting, of course, but improving and adjusting the mental part of the game has been just as important for her. Softball, like baseball, is a game of failure. Neither Goodwin nor anyone else is going to succeed every time they come to the plate, or even come close to that, just as every pitcher is going to see runners on base around her from time to time.
With experience and maturity comes knowledge and understanding, and in Goodwin's case, "grace."
"I'm just giving myself grace; I know this is a long season and there are still long-term goals to get to," said Goodwin, whose older sister Jaycee plays at Georgia State. In the short term, she said, every small success or failure is "not really that big of a deal. We've got a long way to go, and everything's okay. Just giving myself grace really is a big thing for me."
With her big smile and warm demeanor, Goodwin is a valuable part of the Bulldogs' roster and team culture in the dugout and the locker room.
"She's amazing. I mean, really, she's everything you could ask for," sophomore shortstop Emily Digby said. "She's there for you as a teammate, she's there for you outside of softball; she's really energetic, just really happy. Whenever you see her smile, it makes you want to smile."
And Goodwin has had a lot of reasons to smile this season. Along with her other great batting numbers, Goodwin leads the team with a .794 slugging percentage and she has the most multi-hit games (8) and is tied for the lead in most games with more than one RBI (7).
In the Bulldogs' 10-2 run-rule victory over Michigan State last month, it was Goodwin's three-run blast that ended the game in the fifth inning. She had three hits and four RBIs in the walk-off win.
"I didn't go to the plate thinking, I'm going to walk it off," she said. "I just went up there and was like, just get on base."
As it turned out, she touched them all. It was a moment to remember, one of many she's had, with many more to come.
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.
Players Mentioned
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