Home runs grab your attention, but Georgia baseball does so much more
When you lead Division l in home runs, it’s bound to garner attention. And indeed, hitting for power is a large part of the Georgia baseball team’s identity.
But it’s not the only thing Georgia does well, and it’s not the only way it can win.
On the way to the program’s first SEC Tournament championship this past weekend, the Bulldogs rallied from a 6-0 deficit to defeat Florida 8-7 in the semifinals courtesy of three sacrifice flies, three run-scoring doubles, one wild pitch and exactly zero home runs.
“We actually won a game and didn’t homer,” Georgia coach Wes Johnson said after the semifinal win Saturday. “It’s just a running joke within our locker room … I’m proud of our guys for hanging in there and not panicking and staying within our approach.”
The Bulldogs, who earned the NCAA Tournament’s No. 3 overall seed and will host a regional in Athens this weekend, only hit two home runs in the SEC Tournament. First baseman Brennan Hudson hit a three-run shot in the quarterfinals against Mississippi State, and designated hitter Jack Arcamone’s two-run home run helped Georgia cruise to an 11-1 win against Arkansas in the championship.
After taking the SEC regular season title for the first time since 2008, Georgia won its first SEC Tournament title without relying on the long ball. The conference is sending a nation-high 12 teams to the NCAA Tournament, including five of the top eight national seeds: No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Alabama and No. 8 Florida. No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 14 Mississippi State are also hosting regionals.
There’s no denying hitting home runs is something Georgia does quite well: The Bulldogs have hit 149, the most in the country, and are led by catcher Daniel Jackson, a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and finalist for Baseball America College Player of the Year. He’s the first catcher in Division I history with at least 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season.
Georgia has six players who have hit double-digit home runs: Jackson (27), third baseman Tre Phelps (18), shortstop Kolby Branch (17), infielder Michael O’Shaughnessy (17), first baseman Brennan Hudson (17) and outfielder Henry Allen (13), though Allen is out for the season with a knee injury. In Division I, the Bulldogs are second in slugging (.615), behind only No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech (.636).
But the Bulldogs are also fourth in the country in on-base percentage (.439), led by Phelps with a third-best mark in the SEC at .491. Phelps has also been hit by 32 pitches, which ranks third in the country.
As a team, Georgia is fourth nationally in batting average. Individually, it has the top three players in the SEC in that statistic: Jackson (.391), Phelps (.376) and center fielder Rylan Lujo (.369), who has nine home runs this season.
The Bulldogs own the lowest strikeout rate in the SEC (19%) and have drawn the second-most walks (309) in the conference, too.
More so than focusing on home runs, Georgia wants to focus on getting good matchups.
“I think we always rely on the home run… I think it’s more (that) we’re balancing the chase rates than homers or doubles or singles,” Johnson said the week before the SEC Tournament. “We’re looking at, does the pitcher induce a lot of chase, and if so, what does that look like, who should be in the lineup and who shouldn’t?”
About the Author
Sarah Spencer, a Georgia native and UGA alum, serves as a general assignment and features writer for sports. She previously covered the Hawks from 2019-22.
