2009 upset fires up this year's Bulldogs
When No. 9 Georgia opens play today against No. 15 Tennessee in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Fayetteville, Ark., veteran Bulldogs will take the field mindful of what happened at last year's league tourney.
Continue reading the rest of "2009 upset fires up this year's Bulldogs" by Athens Banner-Herald
Having won 13 of their last 15 regular-season games, the then-No. 7 Bulldogs came into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and faced sixth-seeded Kentucky, which they had roughed up by a combined 18-2 score in a three-game sweep earlier in the season.
But instead of advancing to the semifinals and a date with Alabama, Georgia managed but five hits and was shut out 2-0 by the Wildcats.
In the big-picture scheme, early elimination from the SEC tournament was a mere bump in the road as the Bulldogs subsequently swept the Chapel Hill Regional and Athens Super Regional to advance to the school's first Women's College World Series.
"The returning players understand what happened last year and the thing we talk about the most is that last year, (losing to Kentucky) served as our kick-in-the-butt to get us going," junior infielder Alisa Goler said. "Hopefully, we've already had our wake-up call this year."
The Bulldogs (43-10, 18-8 SEC) are this year's fourth seed and will face the Volunteers (41-12, 17-8), who enter the tournament seeded fifth.
During the regular season, Georgia won two of three in Knoxville in what turned out to be a trio of close games.
And even though the Bulldogs are assured of a regional berth and could well earn the opportunity to host a super regional, they aren't ready to come hom
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