‘Where everyone wants to go’: Kudzu Hill ups the energy at UGA super regional

ATHENS — Beer showers rained down. People were hugging and high-fiving strangers. Shirts were off and being waved like towels.

Chanting. Cheering. Pandemonium had broken out on Kudzu Hill.

Moments before, things were looking bleak for Georgia, trailing 12-10 in the eighth inning of Game 1 of a super regional against Mississippi State. But with two on and only one out, Michael O’Shaughnessy changed the game with a go-ahead three-run home run and sent the "Kudzu Crazies" into bedlam.

“It’s awesome,” O’Shaughnessy said postgame. “I have never seen a place explode like that, like it did after my home run, and I looked up and the place was going crazy.”

The Bulldogs of Athens defeated the Bulldogs of Starkville 13-12, inching Georgia closer to the College World Series, where it hasn’t been since 2008.

Early Saturday, hundreds of fans — students, families and anyone wanting to join the party — packed out Kudzu Hill, the area behind right field at Foley Field known for bringing a rowdy environment to game days.

Among those celebrating were Carl Smith his and son Lawton, who are regulars up on the greenhouse. The Savannah natives arrived to watch Saturday’s game hours before first pitch.

“It’s been a part of our lives,” Carl Smith said. “I got pictures on my phone of his first game when (Lawton) was knee-high.”

The elder Smith, who wore a 1992 Georgia baseball jersey, has seen the highest and lowest moments of this program. From UGA winning its only title back in 1990, to falling short in the 2008 national title series.

Lawton, a senior at UGA, just got back from a European study-abroad trip and was glad to be back up on Kudzu Hill after missing last week’s regional.

Despite the 11 a.m. first pitch, fans wasted no time getting to the hill. According to UGA sophomore and resident of the green house (one of the houses on Kudzu Hill) Jackson Dowdy, people were arriving as early as 7 a.m. to stake out their spot to cheer on the Bulldogs.

“Everyone being here — if it wasn’t a big crowd, I don’t think it would be as special. But the fact that everyone comes to this one place,” Dowdy said. “I mean, UGA students get free tickets to the games, but everybody comes here. This is the gathering place, where everyone wants to go.”

Lawton Smith said Kudzu Hill carries a big cultural influence all season long, and described it as “spring in its entirety in the South.”

Right when you arrive, the smell of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill perfumes the air. From there, every inch is filled with patio chairs and benches.

For those who did not get a spot, they moved to the houses or, as a half-dozen men did, sat on top of a U-Haul trailer to get an elevated view.

Carl Smith credits Wes Johnson and this baseball program for revitalizing the fanbase, so now students rally back to Athens weeks after school lets out to cheer on their team.

“I’m glad it’s resonating with the youth, because 90% over there is all the students and it makes it a real special thing,” Smith said. “I’m just glad they let the old guy come hang out with them.”