ATHENS -- At the start of each week throughout the regular season, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will take a closer look at the Georgia baseball team. Here’s a breakdown of the Bulldogs going into the sixth week of the 2024 campaign:
Record: 21-4, 3-3 SEC
Streak: Won 4
Rankings: No. 14 (NCBWA)
Last Week (4-0)
Tuesday: Beat Wofford 18-6 (8)
Friday: vs. Alabama, postponed due to weather
Saturday (DH): Beat Alabama 9-5; beat Alabama 6-5
Sunday: Beat Alabama 10-5
This Week
Tuesday: vs. Mercer (14-9, 1-2 SoCon), 5 p.m.
Friday: at Tennessee (21-4, 3-3 SEC), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday: at Tennessee, 5 p.m. (SEC Network)
Sunday: at Tennessee, 2 p.m.
Week in review
It was a bounce-back week for the Bulldogs.
After getting smacked in the mouth in a road sweep at the hands of Kentucky in Week 1 of SEC play, Georgia came back with a perfect 4-0 week that highlighted by a drama-filled weekend sweep of No. 14 Alabama.
Game 1 could not have been more electrifying. With a capacity crowd filling every nook and cranny of Foley Field, shortstop Kolby Branch hit a game-winning grand slam home run in the bottom of the ninth to break a 5-5 tie and lift the Bulldogs to a 9-5 victory.
A first-year transfer from Baylor, Branch tossed his helmet in the air in jubilation right before being mobbed by his teammates at home plate. However, the umpire crew hit Branch with an unsportsmanlike penalty for breaking the league rule against throwing helmets. As a result, Branch had to sit out the second game. That broke a streak in which Branch had started every game of his collegiate career.
Branch’s home run was just one of seven on the two-game afternoon for the Bulldogs, including three from All-American Charlie Condon. Condon’s mammoth, 442-foot, two-run home run over the batter’s eye in center field gave Georgia a 5-4 lead in the eighth. Georgia would add one more run in the inning, which was critical as Alabama added a run in the top of the ninth. Sophomore Kolten Smith (2-1) pitched the final 3.2 innings in relief of Leighton Finley to earn the win.
Corey Collins would prove the offensive hero of the weekend for the Bulldogs on Sunday when he hit two home runs and drove in four runs on the way to a 10-5 win. For the week, the 6-foot-3, 236-pound senior outfielder batted .647 (11-for-17) with six home runs and 13 RBI. Collins percentages for slugging (1.175) and on-base rate (.615) are not far off from Condon’s (1.213 and .637). Accordingly, Collins was named SEC player of the week.
Week ahead
It’s another tough week for the Bulldogs on the rugged road that is SEC baseball. After a Tuesday tilt against Mercer at home, Georgia heads up to Rocky Top to take on the Tennessee Volunteers (21-4, 3-3). The Vols have the exact same record as the unranked Bulldogs but are ranked No. 5 in the Division I Baseball poll. Georgia, however, carries a No. 8 RPI into the week, while the Vols are 14th.
Tennessee took two of three games against Ole Miss in Knoxville this past weekend, run-ruling the Rebels in the two wins 15-3 and 15-4, each in seven innings. The Vols are No. 2 in the SEC in hitting (.324) and have scored a league-high 261 runs. They’re 66 home runs are second only to Georgia’s NCAA-leading 74.
They said it
“This series win is big. The challenge is to stay hungry in this league. If you think you’re full or satisfied, that’s when you can get swept. We have to stay hungry and continue to understand that we need to get better every day.” – Georgia coach Wes Johnson
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