Preview: #5 Softball Looks to Stay Hot Against #8 Georgia

Alabama softball gears up for its first SEC road series this weekend as they travel to Georgia to play the #8 Bulldogs.

The Crimson Tide are coming off their SEC opener against Ole Miss, where pitching and dominated. Patrick Murphy's team did not allow a single run in the three-game series. This included Sydney Littlejohn's second perfect game of the year, making her the first player in Alabama history to accomplish that feat. She also became the first player to have a perfect game at Rhoads Stadium. Marisa Runyon helped kickstart the consistent bats with a grand slam on her first pitch Friday night, and Alabama went on to win the series by a combined score of 23-0.

Georgia comes into the series with a 23-4 record, 2-1 in SEC play and ranked #8 in the country. The 'Dawgs also opened up their SEC schedule last weekend as they visited Mississippi State. Georgia won the series taking two of three games, using some big bats to bring in as many as nine runs.

Brittany Gray leads the Bulldog pitching staff with only one other feature pitcher in Chelsea Wilkinson. Both have been lights out, with Gray having a 9-0 record with a 0.93 era and Wilkinson sporting a 13-3 record and 1.70 era. Cortni Emmanuel has been the dominant batter so far, batting .535 on the year on a team with four different players batting over .400 (Alabama only has two).

With both teams having the pitching and batting playing at such a high level, it's going to be interesting to see which side rises to the occasion. The confidence that the Alabama pitching staff gained by shutting out Ole Miss will play a huge role when facing the big bats Georgia has, while All-American Haley McCleney and Marisa Runyon look to continue to be the leaders at the plate against the two stout pitchers.

This and next weekend's series against #1 Florida will tell if Alabama has the championship pedigree they've had in the past. Alabama and Georgia play in the first of a three-game series on Friday at 5 PM.