Georgia softball knocks off top-ranked Oklahoma

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Down five runs against the No. 1 team in the nation, Georgia softball could have folded.

Instead, the Bulldogs delivered one of the greatest comebacks in SEC Tournament history.

Freshman pitcher Presley Harrison struck out a career-high seven batters and No. 13-ranked Georgia blasted three home runs during a stunning rally as the Bulldogs erased a 5-0 deficit to upset top-ranked Oklahoma 10-5 Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the SEC Softball Tournament.

The ninth-seeded Bulldogs improved to 38-17 with the victory and advanced to the semifinals against fourth-seeded Texas, while the Sooners fell to 48-8.

For Georgia head coach Tony Baldwin, the comeback showed the toughness and resilience his team has developed late in the season.

“Exciting game and just really proud of the way that we responded to what we’ll call not our best start,” Baldwin said. “We talked early about this being like a prize fight, and Oklahoma is so good at bullying you into the corner. I thought we did a really good job of kind of bobbing and weaving there and then ultimately got the fight back in the middle of the ring.”

Things looked bleak early for Georgia.

Oklahoma exploded for four runs in the first inning before adding another run in the second to build a commanding 5-0 lead against the Bulldogs.

But Georgia slowly began to punch back.

After left-hander Randi Roelling started the game, Baldwin turned to Harrison with one out in the first inning. The South Georgia freshman steadied the game and ultimately became the difference-maker, allowing just one earned run over 6.2 innings while walking nobody.

“Presley Harrison was the star of the show tonight,” Baldwin said. “Could not be more proud of a South Georgia girl that grew up wanting to be a ‘Dawg’ and going out there and do it on this stage is as good as it gets.”

Georgia’s offense erupted in the fourth inning.

Senior Jaydyn Goodwin and freshman Gabi Novickas each launched solo home runs before junior Emily Digby crushed a three-run homer — her second consecutive game with a three-run blast — to suddenly tie the game at 5-5.

“We just told ourselves that we have nothing else to lose,” Digby said. “Give Oklahoma our best fight. That whole inning just sparked a momentum boost for us, and it was really big.”

The Bulldogs kept coming.

Georgia added three more runs in the sixth inning behind RBI hits from Keirstin Roose and Goodwin before Marisa Miller and Digby added insurance runs in the seventh.

By the end of the night, Georgia had rattled off 10 unanswered runs against the nation’s top-ranked team.

The five-run comeback marked the largest comeback victory in SEC Softball Tournament history and Georgia’s first victory over a No. 1-ranked team since defeating Oklahoma in Athens during the 2021 season.

Bailey Lindemuth, Miller and Goodwin each finished with two hits for the Bulldogs.

“I feel like the ‘Dawgs’ are getting hot at the right time,” Roose said. “It’s really fun to play right now. We’re all just so grateful to be here.”

Georgia will face Texas in the SEC Tournament semifinals Friday night at approximately 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.