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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
High-scoring Bulldogs peaking at right timeBut UGA not only team in Omaha with hot bats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/12/08
Batten down the circuit breakers. The Georgia baseball team is on a power surge. But so are most of the teams headed to the College World Series.
Over their past eight games, the Bulldogs have scored 90 runs and four times they've been in double digits, much to the pleasure of the Foley Field fanatics. But will it play in Omaha, Neb.?
CURTIS COMPTON/AJC | ||
| Georgia catcher/DH Bryce Massanari has 11 homers and 65 RBIs on the season. The Bulldogs are batting .309 as a team. | ||
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Absolutely, said Gordon Beckham, the team's shortstop and offensive leader. He said the team is riding an offensive wave.
"We're peaking offensively at the right time," Beckham said. "In baseball, it comes and goes. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't, and sometimes you run into a guy and he's on his game. It's all a mystery. I know we're hitting well now and we're hitting well at the right time."
Beckham and the Bulldogs certainly packed their share of bam in the NCAA regional, where they scored 56 runs in five games, and the super regional, where they hung 34 on N.C. State in three games. Only Florida State scored more runs in its regional (64 runs in five games). Only LSU scored more in its super regional (35 against UC Irvine).
And while boppers like Beckham (26 homers, 72 RBIs), Rich Poythress (15 homers, 67 RBIs) and Bryce Massanari (11 homers, 65 RBIs) can go deep, there are plenty of other hitters who can advance a runner, keep an inning alive or work the count for a walk.
"We're playing a little small-ball, bunting and getting guys over. And we're getting some home runs, too," Beckham said. "It's a combination that's deadly when you're doing it well, like we've been the last three weeks."
Among the eight teams that will play in Omaha in the College World Series, which begins Saturday, the Bulldogs rank as one of the top run-producing clubs. But there's not much difference between the top and bottom.
Georgia is batting .309 as a team, which leaves it tied for fourth among the final eight, and has scored 473 runs, which ranks sixth. The biggest offensive machine going into Rosenblatt Stadium is Florida State, which carries a .354 average and has scored 96 runs in the NCAA playoffs.
The rampage of runs has benefited Georgia's pitching staff. The team is averaging 7.3 runs per start: 6.1 for Trevor Holder, 6.2 for Stephen Dodson, 7.3 for Nick Montgomery and 7.8 for Nathan Moreau. The support helps the staff do a better job.
"Getting runs for the pitchers is a huge deal," Beckham said. "It gives them a little room for error and they pitch well under that."
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