By: Connor Flanders
The Georgia Bulldogs softball team began their season with back-to-back wins at the 19th Annual Red & Black Showcase at Jack Turner Softball Stadium. The Bulldogs come into the season ranked 15th in the ESPN/USA Softball poll and will be led by fifth-year head coach Tony Baldwin.
In their season opener, they picked up a 10-1 victory against the Missouri State Bears. Earlier in the day, Missouri State dropped its season opener to Belmont 9-0. The Bears were picked to finish tied for 10th in the Conference USA preseason poll.
In her first collegiate start, freshman Presley Harrison started strong, getting two of the first three batters she faced out, but a soft hit to right field that barely stayed fair drove a run home. Following an eight-pitch walk, a visit to the mound seemed to calm Harrison down as she collected her first career strikeout to end the inning.
Leadoff batter Keirsten Roose got Georgia started with a hard hit to deep right for a double, and she shortly after stole third base. Delani Sullivan drew a walk, which set up a double steal that let Roose steal home for the Bulldogs’ first run of the season. Three straight walks loaded the bases for Georgia, and a sacrifice fly from Bailey Lindemuth drove in one runner before Emma Castorri cleared the bases with a home run into the bleachers in center field. The Bulldogs ended the first inning leading the Bears 5-1.
Both teams had their first two hitters reach base in the second inning; however, only Georgia capitalized as Jaydyn Goodwin hit the team’s second three-run home run of the day between the flagpole and the videoboard in right field. The Bulldogs then loaded the bases off a walk and two errors by Missouri State fielders, but could only drive in one, ending the second inning up 9-1.
Presley Harrison struck out 4 of her 8 batters faced and held Missouri State scoreless in her final two innings. The third would be her final inning as senior Destin Howard replaced her before the top of the fourth. Harrison ended the day with five strikeouts and allowed only one run in her three innings of action.
In the bottom of the fourth, Baldwin substituted most of the starting lineup, allowing many freshmen to see their first playing time in the red and black. Gabi Novickas collected her first collegiate hit and RBI with a single to the left side of the infield that drove in Mollie Mitchell and grew the Bulldog lead to nine.
Howard had a strong showing to close out the game, striking out three batters in her two innings. As the top of the fifth ended, the run-ahead rule took effect, and the Bulldogs claimed victory over the Bears 10-1.
About 40 minutes after their victory, the Bulldogs took on the Fordham Rams. Last year, the Rams were one win away from claiming the Atlantic 10 conference championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament. This year, Fordham was picked to finish first in the A10 preseason poll, voted on by the conference’s coaches. The Rams returned 14 of their 19 players from the previous season, including Neleh Nogay, who set the conference record for stolen bases in 2025. They started their day in Athens with a 6-0 win over Belmont.
Addisen Fisher, a transfer from UCLA, took the mound to start the game for the Bulldogs. Fisher looked to be an impactful transfer as last year she was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, and she did not disappoint. She quickly disposed of the first three Fordham batters with two ground balls and a strikeout in an inning that only lasted about two minutes. She continued at nearly the same tempo in the second and third innings, which featured strong defensive play from the Bulldog infielders, including an impressive diving grab from Emily Digby, helping Fisher remain perfect through three innings.
Keirsten Roose once again started hot by taking the second pitch she saw out of the ballpark for a leadoff home run. Although four other Bulldogs reached base between the first and third innings, they couldn’t drive any of them home, ending the third inning leading 1-0.
The Georgia defensive effort proved to be an X-factor in the early stages of the game as tough plays made by Digby, Castorri, Roose, and Fisher kept many Fordham runners off the bases. McDonough, Georgia native Tyler Ellison got the fourth inning rally going with a line drive to deep right-center field. An error by Fordham’s Neleh Nogay allowed Bailey Lindemuth to reach second base before Emily Digby was hit by a pitch for the second time in two games to load the bases. Natalie Ray drew a walk to drive in Ellison, and from there, the hits and runs kept coming. Roose singled to drive in two, and Delani Sullivan put three more runs on the board for the Bulldogs with a home run high into right field that hit the videoboard. Two flyouts ended the six-run inning for the Bulldogs, leading 7-0.
The Rams challenged Fisher at the top of the sixth. Chloe Trimandilis hit a ball hard and high to center before falling into the glove of Mollie Mitchell, and Ava Vandernoth worked to a 3-0 count before grounding out. Fisher recovered and ended the inning by fielding a ball hit directly at her and firing it over to Castorri for the out, remaining perfect through six innings. However, in the bottom of the seventh, a ground ball hit right between second and third base broke up Fisher’s perfect game. Fordham was able to put one run on the board before Lindemuth picked up the final out at third base to seal a 7-1 Bulldog victory.
Although she fell short of perfection, Addisen Fisher finished her first start as a Georgia Bulldog with six strikeouts in a complete game effort. Keirsten Roose got on base every time she batted across the two games, including a home run. The Bulldogs had eighteen hits, four home runs, twelve walks, and scored a total of seventeen runs between the two games. Bulldog pitchers combined for fourteen strikeouts and only six hits allowed through twelve innings.
In their final three games of the Red & Black Showcase, Georgia will face Fordham once again and play Belmont twice. Against the Belmont Bruins, the Bulldogs are likely to face Maya Johnson, one of the top pitchers in college softball. Johnson was ranked 23rd in D1 Softball’s D100 preseason rankings and 8th in their pitcher rankings. She lived up to those rankings by pitching a perfect game in Belmont’s 9-0 season-opening win against Missouri State.
Next weekend, the Bulldogs will travel to Clearwater, Florida, for the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. They’ll face stiff competition in the Sunshine State as five out of their six opponents are either ranked or received votes in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
Main Photo Credit: Online Athens
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