A veteran Georgia softball team will take the field at the SEC tournament this afternoon for a showdown with rival Auburn.

The No. 13-ranked Bulldogs (38-15, 12-12 SEC) are the tourney’s No. 7 seed and face the No. 10-seed Tigers (27-18, 9-15) in an elimination game at 5 p.m. (TV: SEC Network).

Georgia would play No. 2-seed Florida at 5 p.m. on Thursday with a win over Auburn.

It’s a seasoned Bulldogs’ team that features seven starters who finished their degrees in May: Ellie Armistead, Sydney Chambley, Lyndi Rae Davis, Jayda Kearney, Sara Mosley and pitchers Madison Kerpics and Shelby Walters (Masters).

Georgia starters Sydney Kuma and Jaiden Fields had already completed their degrees.

The SEC tournament is an opportunity for Georgia softball to recapture some momentum after the team dropped its past two league series with Florida and Mississippi State.

It’s a team that has beaten 14 different ranked opponents this season, including nine season-opening wins in a row that led to a top 5 ranking.

The Bulldogs have proven their ability in the past to turn things up in the postseason, making their most recent Women’s College World Series run in 2021 after finishing 11th in the SEC.

Lead-off hitter Dallis Goodnight leads the offense into this postseason, batting a team-high .352 with a .440 on-base percentage.

Kearney (17 home runs) and Mosley (16 home runs) look to supply the power, while Kuma (.486) remains the toughest out on the team.

Georgia is looking to win what would be its second SEC tournament in history, the first coming in 2014 in Columbia, S.C.

Current Bulldogs’ pitching coach Chelsea Wilkinson was the MVP of the SEC tourney Georgia won 10 years ago.

The SEC tourney started on Tuesday with No. 13 seed Ole Miss beating No. 12 seed Kentucky, 7-2.

No. 9-seed Alabama plays No. 8-seed LSU at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, with Ole Miss next facing No. 5-seed Missouri at 2 p.m. The Georgia-Auburn games follows, with No. 6-seed Mississippi State facing No. 11 seed South Carolina at 8 p.m.