The No. 20 LSU softball team travels to Athens, Ga., this weekend for a three-game series against Georgia in the Tigers’ first Southeastern Conference road trip of the season.The No. 8 Bulldogs seek SEC redemption after losing to No. 1 Florida in a doubleheader Wednesday night, 15-0 and 4-0, respectively.Georgia (15-2) enters this weekend leading the SEC with a .367-team batting average, a .677 slugging percentage and a .459 on base percentage. But its potent offense only managed one hit in each of its games played against the Gators.LSU’s ace pitchers, freshman Brittany Mack and junior Cody Trahan, are expected to see action against the Bulldogs, while senior Dani Hofer, who earned two victories against Georgia in 2008, is still sidelined with injuries.”They’ve got to hit their spots and work ahead,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “That’s the secret to winning and being a pitcher.”Trahan secured the second victory in LSU’s three-game sweep of the Bulldogs last season, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out eight.”Last year we were able to come in and thrown our pitches and be successful,” Trahan said. “They have a lot of new girls, and we have to learn how to pitch to those girls.”The Bulldogs have 10 freshmen on their roster, but youth has prevailed for Georgia — four of the top 14 hitters in the SEC are Bulldogs. Georgia sophomore Alisa Goler is second in the league with a .500 batting average.Goler, who was named the SEC Player of the Week three weeks ago, leads the SEC in slugging percentage (1.148), on base percentage (.588) and home runs (9).”Obviously she has come around a lot this year and has done a lot of hard work,” Trahan said. “We’re probably going to approach it the same way. Just look at what pitches have been successful — what pitches we have thrown that have been working well for us and work with that.”LSU’s youth might play a factor as the nine freshmen and four sophomores travel to play in Athens for the first time.”In the SEC, Georgia is hard to play at,” Trahan said. “Their fans are absolutely crazy and yelling. It may be a little intimidating for some, but I think that our freshmen have had enough experience now that they’ll be able to handle it.”Girouard said she’ll try to prepare her team for what lies ahead, but playing Georgia and the following Wednesday doubleheader against No. 2 Alabama will be a tough stretch.”If they thought the Kentucky series was a welcome to the SEC, they’ll have their eyes opened,” Girouard said. “Hopefully we don’t have the deer-in-headlights look.”——Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]