Tony Baldwin explains UGA's approach facing elimination vs. Liberty in Athens Regional

Facing elimination, Georgia‘s softball team stepped up to the plate and scored seven of its first nine points on home runs and threatened to run rule Liberty after four innings on Sunday.

After losing Saturday’s matchup, the Bulldogs could have been eliminated from their own regional with a loss to Charlotte in the consolation rounds. A 5-0 shutout win against the 49ers set up a rematch against the Flames where Georgia will have to beat Liberty twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regional.

“We just focused on being present. It’s one thing at a time,” Georgia head coach Tony Baldwin said about his team’s approach to facing elimination. “I know that sounds very cliche, but our goal is to win the inning for as many innings as we get to play today and so far we’re in a good spot. I like the way we’re competing and [Madison Kerpics] is throwing the ball well, so that’s good.”

Four different Bulldogs hit home runs before the fifth inning on Sunday — Sydney Chambley, Jayda Kearney, Lyndi Rae Davis and Emily Digby — to balloon Georgia’s lead to eight runs. Chambley’s home run in the fourth inning notched the 13th straight unanswered run Georgia has scored since losing to Liberty on Saturday afternoon.

They didn’t stop there, either as Davis kept the action going with and RBI double to right field before the Flames could fan the Bulldogs’ bats to end the inning.

Liberty would end Georgia’s run streak at 14 after Brooke Roberts hit a bloop to left field that fell between three Bulldog defenders. On the next at-bat, Rachel Craine launched a three-run bomb to left field to give the Flames life.

At the start of the game, there was some concern on the ESPN+ broadcast that the weather delay, which pushed the game’s first pitch back an hour, would see the Bulldogs come out sluggish after having to play an extra game on Saturday. Baldwin put that theory to bed during the broadcast.

“It’s part of it,” he said. “Just another day of softball.

Georgia will be looking to finish the Flames off and turn its attention toward Game 2, which will be played later on Sunday. However, Liberty has already proven in this regional that they’re able to score in large quantities in a single inning — which they did in the fourth. They’ll still need a larger effort to get back in this one late, however