Despite spending part of the season ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Georgia softball team managed only a 17-9 ledger in conference play, leaving the Bulldogs as the league’s fifth-seeded team heading into the SEC Tournament.

After playing a midweek doubleheader against the Longwood Lancers, the Bulldogs will open the conference tourney in Oxford against fourth-seeded Louisiana State, whom the Athenians swept in March. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. central/5:00 p.m. Eastern this Thursday, May 12.

The outing will be televised on ESPNU, and the winner of the Bulldogs-Tigers tilt will advance to the semifinals on Friday afternoon, there to face the winner of Thursday night’s Alabama-Mississippi State affray. While we cannot take LSU for granted---Georgia is the lower-seeded of the two, after all---it is clear from the Bulldogs’ regular-season results against their two possible second-round opponents that, should the Red and Black get by the Bayou Bengals, we need to root for MSU to roll back the Tide.

Go ‘Dawgs!