Georgia familiar to UW softball

University of Washington softball coach Heather Tarr probably didn't need to watch Saturday's NCAA super-regional between Georgia and Cal. She already knew what was going to happen.

“We knew we'd play them,” Tarr said of the Georgia Bulldogs, who easily dispatched of Cal on Saturday after doing the same on day earlier. “There was no doubt.”

Not only is Georgia (48-11) a superior team to the Bears, but the Bulldogs also look like a team of destiny — UW's destiny, anyway.

The Huskies and Georgia just can't seem to get out of each others' way, having squared off eight times since 2007 and in three of the past four postseasons. On Thursday at 6:30 p.m., they will do battle again in the first round of the NCAA's College World Series for the second year in a row.

“Georgia knows us, and we know them,” Tarr said via telephone Monday from Oklahoma City, the site of the CWS. “It's just a game we get to play.”

UW (50-7) had to face Georgia three times in last year's College World Series. The Huskies rode the offense of then-freshmen Kimi Pohlman and Niki Williams and the arm of Danielle Lawrie to a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs in both teams' opening game of the CWS.

Georgia rallied through the consolation bracket to get another shot at UW and tagged Lawrie for seven earned runs on nine hits in a 9-8 Bulldogs victory. Lawrie rebounded from that — perhaps the worst performance of her career — to beat Georgia 9-3 the following day while clinching a spot in the championship series.

Many of the main characters are back from those meetings, including seven of the Bulldogs' nine starters from last year's CWS semifinals and — perhaps most important — UW's Lawrie. This will mark Lawrie's third consecutive postseason appearance in which she has faced Georgia, having taken off the 2008 season to compete in the Olympics.

Tarr said that the Bulldogs' familiarity with Lawrie, and Georgia's success in the 9-8 win last May, will be challenges for the senior pitcher.

“There's always a concern,” Tarr said. “She's got to play her best. She has to dig down deep.”

In case Lawrie had forgotten the nine-hit, seven-earned-run performance against Georgia last May, she was reminded five days ago what it feels like to be human. Much like the Bulldogs did in that 9-8 win last year, Oklahoma teed off on Lawrie for a career-high five home runs in UW's 6-1 loss to the Sooners in a super-regional played in Seattle on Thursday night. Lawrie came back and pitched back-to-back shutouts on Friday night, just like she shut down Georgia in the winner-take-all second semifinal game of last year's CWS.

Tarr said that the adversity of last year's shellacking was something the Huskies “had to go through” to get to their eventual goal of winning a national title. In losing to OU, this year's UW team has already seen some adversity.

And on Thursday, the Huskies will see something else familiar: their opening-round opponent.

Notes

For what it's worth, the two cross-country rivals have alternated wins in each of their past eight meetings — meaning Georgia should be due this time around. ... UW enters the eight-team CWS as the No. 2 seed behind Tennessee. Alabama, which was seeded No. 1 overall heading into the NCAA tournament, got shocked by Hawaii in Sunday's super-regional. ... A Pac-10 team has won the past four national softball titles, and eight of the past nine. The Huskies, who arrived in Oklahoma City on Monday, are joined by conference rivals Arizona and UCLA in this year's field. ... Tonight, USA Softball will announce the winner of the national-player-of-the-year award. Lawrie, who won it last year, is one of three finalists for this year's honor.