Athens Regional (May 15-17) at Athens, Georgia
North Carolina (36-14) vs. Western Kentucky. (34-12)
Central Conn. St. (31-12) vs. No. 14 seed Georgia* (40-14)
Georgia comes in as the 14 over all seed for the NCAA championships. The Bulldogs are a fun team to watch and have an offense that can score runs in bunches. There seed may be a bit low but they do have some tough losses. They have the pitching staff to make a deep run and if they can generate the offense they are capable of they will be in good shape. They will face a solid pitcher in their opener against Central Conn. St. (CCSU). Laura Messina is having another great season. She may be able to keep them in the game, but this will be the most dangerous offense she has faced.
Expect a battle when North Carolina and Western Kentucky (WKU). They are evenly matched and WKU has one of the best pitchers in the nation in Miranda Kramer who has racked up 410 strikeouts so far. She will face a North Carolina offense that has hit 88 home runs and has a .330 team batting average. This may be one of the best first game match-ups in all the regions.
Georgia is the favorite to advance and we believe they will.
Georgia
Slash Lines (Batting Average, On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage)
At the Plate
- Sydni Emanuel: .433/.505/.518
- Cortni Emanuel: .413/.468/.449
- Alex Hugo: .401/.497/.905 and 19 home runs
In the Circle
- Chelsea Wilkinson: 25-8, 2.06 ERA and 231 SO
- Brittany Gray : 14-6, 2.24 ERA and 95 SO
Central Conn. St.
At the Plate
- Kat Malcolm: .355/.429/.572
- Ashley Black: .290/.322/.331
In the Circle
- Laura Messina: 27-8, 1.28 ERA and 273 SO
- Emily Sargent: 3-4 3.97 ERA and 16 SO
North Carolina
At the Plate
- Taylor Wike: .435/.579/.687
- Lauren Walker: .389/.451/.704
- Kristen Brown has 22 home runs
In the Circle
- Sydney Matzko: 14-5, 2.39 ERA and 77 SO
- Kaylee Carlson: 17-8, 3.46 ERA and 115 SO
Western Kentucky
At the Plate
- Kathryn Downing: .455/.500/.545
- Larissa Franklin: .423/.469/.474
In the Circle
- Miranda Kramer: 24-8, 0.83 ERA and 410 SO
- Janna Scheff: 4-3, 3.40 ERA and 14 SO
