This article was originally published with The Red & Black on April 3, 2015 and can be found here.

The Georgia Bulldogs are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle: As long as all parts are present, the order in which they are chosen is irrelevant.

Most of the pieces of the Bulldogs’ roster were shaken up on Feb. 13 when third baseman Anna Swafford was hit in the face by a hard ground ball in a game against Elon.

“It honestly was a freak accident,” Swafford said. “I had a perfect read on the ball and thought I was going to field it like usual, but it took a bad hop pretty much right in my face.”

The play left Swafford with four fractured facial bones, two fewer teeth and a short stint on the bench as she recovered.

Swafford’s injury led Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer to make a unique decision. Instead of calling on an inexperienced backup to fill the hole at the hot corner, Harris-Champer took a different approach to the situation.

She decided to rework the majority of her infield.

Shortstop Paige Wilson became third baseman Paige Wilson. Second baseman Alex Hugo adjusted to play as a shortstop. And Cortni Emanuel, a freshman who was barely used to being a collegiate outfielder, took on the role of the team’s second baseman.

“[Moving positions] is what makes a teammate a great teammate,” Harris-Champer said. “When you truly are all about the team, the position that you’re assigned to shouldn’t matter.”

Any adjustment period for these three was barely noticeable to onlookers as the Bulldogs rolled by major Division I opponents like Indiana and then-No.4/3 Oklahoma. However, that isn’t to say there were not some growing pains felt along the way.

“[It took] a good amount of work,” Hugo said. “I had to adjust to having a different kind of range on the other side of the field and also a different length to throw. We also had to make sure we all meshed well.”

The circumstances proved to be a far greater challenge for Swafford.

After sitting for close to two weeks, she returned to the lineup as a designated player in Georgia’s 16-0 win over Townsend. The senior went 3-for-3 with one RBI in a game that led her to ponder the big picture of her playing career for the first time.

Swafford’s return to third was finally completed Mar. 18 when the Bulldogs traveled to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech.

With these four Bulldogs now back in their intended territories, Georgia cruised by the Yellow Jackets with a 14-0 victory. Six hits and nine RBI in the blowout arrived off the bats of the Hugo, Wilson and Swafford trio.

“We have so many great players that are willing to play where they’re needed, but I know it threw them off some when I couldn’t play in the infield,” Swafford said. “I was glad that I was able to get back and help everyone else become more comfortable being back in their normal positions.”

Georgia’s victory over Georgia Tech stood as the first of what is now eight straight starts with Swafford back at third.

Although the lineup is back as it was initially intended, the brief period in which the roles were reassigned was incredibly telling for those involved.

“It is pretty awesome that so many of the girls are so athletic that they can play infield or outfield just based on the team’s needs,” Harris-Champer said. “They put the team before their own personal ego. I think that’s really remarkable and outstanding.”

Georgia’s persistence in an instance that could have derailed a weaker team illustrated just how flexible and dangerous this group of players really is.

With Swafford now healthy, the Bulldogs have even more firepower at the plate. Standout starting pitchers Chelsea Wilkinson and Brittany Gray can again rely on the defense to scoop up balls and gun down batters without ever thinking twice.

All of this makes it look as if the pieces for a playoff-run picture are falling into place.