From the beginning, everything David Perno saw told him things would be different this year for his Georgia baseball team.

The 2007 season and all its disappointment had been put to rest. The page had been turned.

"You know when you have got something special," Perno said.

And Perno knew from day one with the 2008 Georgia baseball team.

"They had the look, the feel, the drive and the energy," he said.

Now they have the Southeastern Conference title. Eight-ranked Georgia (32-16-1, 18-6-1) wrapped up the title with a 12-10 win over No. 16 Vanderbilt (36-13, 14-9) in Nashville Sunday. It is the Bulldogs third title since 2001. No other team in the SEC has more than one in that same time period.

"This one is pretty sweet," Perno said.

This one comes from a team that was 22-33 last season. In addition, Georgia was 11-19 in the conference and left out of the SEC Tournament. This year Georgia started 6-8. The eighth loss was the Friday night SEC opener at Arkansas.

But Georgia won that series and then seven of the next eight.

"Three times we lost the Friday night game in the conference and came back to win the series," Perno said. "That tells you something about this team."

It was a team that refused to give up because it was a team led by players who knew what was at stake. Josh Fields, Gordon Beckham, Ryan Peisel were all a part of the 2006 run to the College World Series. They also were all a part of the team that struggled last season.

"When you taste both sides of it, it makes you want (the wins) more," Perno said.

As a program Georgia was one that had tasted nothing but dust for decades.

Aside from 1987 and 1990, Georgia was insignificant when it came to college baseball.

"From 1991-2000 we weren't just bad, we were the worst tem in the league," Perno said.

No SEC team lost more games in that time period. And that stat includes South Carolina and Arkansas, two teams that didn't join the conference until 1992.

After a conference title in 2001 under Ron Polk, Perno was tapped to move from the assistant coach roll to the head coaching spot. Since that time Georgia has been to the postseason four times and the CWS twice — 2004, 2006.

Georgia has one more series starting Thursday at home against Alabama before it heads to Birmingham for the conference tournament next week. The Bulldogs are also scheduled to play Tech at Turner Field Tuesday at 7 p.m.