Georgia’s record sits at a gaudy 28-2. The Bulldogs are atop the SEC standings with a record of 8-1 three weekends into the conference campaign.
However, as head coach Wes Johnson quickly points out, that means nothing.
“This league don’t care, man. You’d better be hooked up and ready to go. They don’t care,” Johnson said after Georgia’s weekend sweep of Auburn. “I mean, you better stay humble. You better work. You better respect the game.”
The schedule is definitely about to get more interesting.
After a Tuesday night game with Queens, the Bulldogs make their first-ever trip to Austin to face No. 7 Texas (21-3, 7-1) before returning home in two weeks for three big games against No. 2 Arkansas (25-3, 7-1).
Georgia’s bats continue to create most of the headlines.
The Bulldogs entered Sunday ranked first in the conference in runs scored (306), home runs (79), RBI (277), slugging percentage (.615), and on-base percentage (.461). Georgia is third in team batting average (.318) and second in hits (.322).
For those wondering, the Bulldogs are almost halfway home to last year’s school record for home runs (151) and on pace to surpass its 2024 totals for RBI (511) and runs scored (544).
Georgia’s slugging percentage is ahead of last year’s final number of .589, while the Bulldogs’ on-base percentage is currently outpacing the .433 achieved during their run to the finals of the Athens Super Regional.
A daily reinforcement of belief that Johnson and his staff pound into their players daily continues to pay off.
Players never feel that they’re out of a game. There was no better example than Saturday’s Game 2 win over No. 11 Auburn to sweep the weekend series.
After falling behind 6-4 in the 10th, the Bulldogs roared back to win the game with five in the bottom half. The key hit a walk-off three-run homer by Daniel Jackson. Georgia scored all five runs without Auburn recording a single out.
“I think it goes to our senior leadership. You look at Nolan (McCarthy), you look at Henry (Hunter), Slate (Alford). Those guys don’t get sped up, man, either. You know, they just, they play with a slow heartbeat,” Johnson said. “It’s something we talk a lot about, never panicking. This game’s long; it’s hard to get people out. You’re seeing some of that right now.”
Georgia’s hitting has overshadowed the fact that the Bulldogs are also fielding the ball at a much better clip than they were a season ago.
The Bulldogs’ 17 errors are the third-fewest in the league behind Arkansas (13) and Vanderbilt (14).
On the mound, Georgia continues to lean on its depth to get them through games, although the starting rotation is beginning to show signs of getting the Bulldogs deeper into games.
Converted reliver Brian Curley made it through five innings for the second straight game. Meanwhile, Leighton Finley and Charlie Goldstein are making strides.
Although Finley only made it through three on Saturday, he was coming off a solid five inning effort at Florida and did not walk a batter against Auburn. Goldstein – who is coming off Interior Brace surgery – continues to get his pitch count up. The graduate senior threw 68 pitches in Friday’s opener, and although he walked four in three innings, he saw his velocity take an uptick to 91 mph.
Should Johnson decide to make a change, Kolten Smith appears to be ready to step back into a weekend role.
After his ninth-inning pep talk by Johnson, Smith has been lights out and resembling his old self. Against Auburn, pitch five innings of no-hit ball with just one walk and eight strikeouts in relief of Goldstein on Friday to allow the Bulldogs to secure their 4-1 win.
Should five innings become the norm, Georgia could become dangerous. Johnson has built a pitching staff chocked full of power arms, and there’s enough of them to spread out equally on any given weekend.
Matthew Hoskins, Tyler McLoughlin, Jordan Stephens, JT Quinn, Eric Hammond, Justin Byrd, Alton Davis II, Zach Brown, Zach Harris, and DJ Radke give the Bulldogs plenty of capable options.
Assuming Georgia’s bats stay consistent, Georgia could become even more dangerous than they are now.
“We just play the game, but you’ve got to just understand that it’s hard for those guys (other teams) too,” Johnson said. “It’s hard for them. They’ve got to execute pitches. They’ve got to throw to our guys, and our guys can hit too.”
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