It has been over fifty days since Tennessee and Georgia last met on the field.
During that weekend series in early April, the Bulldogs took two out of three games from the Lady Vols at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, winning two of the games in dominating, run-rule fashion.
On Friday, the two conference foes will meet again in Athens, this time in a Super Regional series that will determine who goes to the College World Series. The Lady Vols enter the series with a confident mindset.
“We’re super excited,” sophomore catcher Abby Lockman said. “They came down here fifty days ago and we lost two out of three. We’re excited to go (down) there and just win some games. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re going to go there and do.”
That confidence is something Tennessee players and coaches felt like they did not have the first time they played Georgia this season, especially after coming off of the losing end of a series sweep against South Carolina the week before.
“I think we were really worried about the big picture when we played Georgia,” senior shortstop Meghan Gregg said. “When we played Georgia, I think when they scored one run we were down and we weren’t coming back up. I definitely see a big change in our mentality and attitude so I’m excited for next weekend.”
Georgia (46-11) enters the contest as the No. 7 overall seed, coming off a sweep of the Athens Regional with wins over Harvard and Northwestern (twice). Like Tennessee (48-12), the Bulldogs have had to deal with their fair share of adversity in the regular season.
After an ultra-successful start in SEC play, Georgia lost its ace on the mound in senior pitcher Brittany Gray, and ended the conference slate 1-4, including a first round exit in the SEC tournament.
But even without Gray, who Tennessee beat 1-0 back on March 31, co-head coach Karen Weekly knows that Georgia is still a dangerous opponent, especially at the plate.
“Georgia has an extremely good offense,” Weekly said. “Obviously we’re going to be facing some different pitching than we did, but their offense hasn’t changed. They’re really, really powerful.”
The Bulldogs are nearly first in all of the offensive categories in the conference, including batting average (.338), slugging percentage (.528) and hits (511). They rank just second in the league with 61 home runs this season.
The key to keeping Georgia batters at bay will be pitching, and Tennessee’s pitching staff has been clicking at the right time this postseason, with both pitchers coming off of an impressive outing in the Knoxville Regional.
Moss, who has battled illness throughout the regular season, had one of her best showings last Friday in a 9-0 win against Monmouth. She is hoping that performance carries over into a high-stakes series versus Georgia.
“I’m feeling good,” Moss said. “I felt good Friday night. I think some of its mental and some it’s physical. Sometimes you just have push through the adversity. Georgia has always had a great offense, but they are definitely a threat we have to be very considerate of.”
Having Moss and sophomore pitcher Caylan Arnold healthy and prepared is crucial to any hopes the Lady Vols have of reaching Oklahoma City, and coaches know that both will need to play their best to take the Athens Super Regional.
“Those are going to be big keys for us moving forward,” Weekly said of having both pitchers available. “I think when you go into Supers, I don’t think there is too many teams that can just ride one pitcher. We’re going to need both Moss and Caylan (Arnold).”
For Tennessee offensively, Georgia’s pitching will still present a challenge even without its star pitcher in the circle. Two of those pitchers, Kylie Bass and Amanda Ablan, were instrumental in their route of Tennessee in games two and three of the series.
“I think we have a ton of respect for their pitching staff, with or without Brittany Gray,” Weekly said. “They’ve done very well since she went down with the injury. They still finished the season strong enough to be a top-8 seed. That says a lot for the rest of their pitching staff.”
The all-SEC Super Regional clash only marks the third time in program history that Tennessee has had to play on the road at this point in the postseason, having advanced to the College World Series in previous games at Michigan and Stanford in 2005 and 2010, respectively.
However, despite the added pressure of facing a top-eight seed and playing them in their venue, the Lady Vols have the SEC slate to thank for the experience of playing in hostile environments.
“I think any SEC school has amazing fans,” Moss said. “Especially Georgia. I enjoy loud fans. It’s going to be an interesting one. It’ll be fun.”
The Lady Vols are looking to advance to their first College World Series since 2015, having lost two out of three to Texas A&M in Knoxville in 2016 and falling just short of a run through Oklahoma City.
Game one of the best-of-three series is set for Friday at 5:00 p.m. at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
