Yes, I know, yesterday was G-Day, and, yes, I know, you’re interested in a recap, but give me a break, folks; it was an intra-squad scrimmage, and I spent five hours sitting out in the sun in Athens yesterday, and there were actual intercollegiate outings pitting University of Georgia student-athletes against undergraduates from opposing post-secondary institutions, so cut me some slack, and take a moment to run through the Sunday sports summary:
I was at Foley Field for this sorry showing, so I want to give it the shortest shrift possible. On Saturday afternoon, Ole Miss defeated Georgia, 8-3, to avoid being swept by the Diamond Dogs. Closer Blake Dieterich got the start and took the loss, lasting three and a third innings during which he gave up nine hits and four earned runs. The Rebels took a 2-0 lead with two outs against them in the first frame, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with no one out in the second stanza yet plated only one run, and the Red and Black were out-hit, 20-10, in a poor performance in which the Classic City Canines stranded eleven baserunners in an absolute stinker.
It was a full week for Lu Harris-Champer’s eleventh-ranked ladies, who took a 7-3 Tuesday night outing from USC Upstate to get the action underway. The Spartans notched ten hits to the Bulldogs’ nine, but Kristyn Sandberg gave the Red and Black an early 2-0 edge with a home run to left center field. On Wednesday, Sandberg again led the way, smacking two dingers and a triple to drive in four as Georgia swept a doubleheader from South Carolina, 4-3 and 8-3.
In Lexington this weekend, the Athenians’ fortunes turned for the worse, as Kentucky beat Georgia, 4-1, on Friday, then again, 4-0, on Saturday. The losses were Erin Arevalo’s fourth and Morgan Montemayor’s fifth, respectively. The Red and Black will attempt to avoid the sweep at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
Thanks to a personal-best 43’11.25” distance in the shot put, Cory Holman seized the early lead to surge into first at Thursday’s Bulldog Decathlon, but the highest Athenian finisher on Friday was freshman Garrett Scantling, who came in third in his first decathlon at this level of competition. That same day, Colleen Felix (women’s triple jump), Hilenn James (women’s shot put), Aaron LaGarde (men’s triple jump), and Justin Welch (men’s hammer throw) all were the top collegiate finishers at the Spec Towns National Team Invitational. Georgia posted a dozen such high water marks at the Spec Towns Invitational on Saturday, but none was bigger than freshman Morgann Leleux’s school record 14’4” pole vault.
Mark Richt’s charges were not the only Bulldog football team to wrap up its spring schedule on Saturday, as the Georgia women’s soccer team played its annual alumnae game, in which the current students outlasted the program’s former players, 7-1. Bailey Powell, one year removed from her own undergraduate days, scored the degree-holders’ only goal, while Madeline Barker and Chika Ibiam each found the back of the net twice in the course of the morning. The lady footballers will be back in action again next autumn.
Yes, I know I covered the weekend’s lacrosse action yesterday, but I wanted to note that, with the win over the Georgia Tech, the Georgia men’s lacrosse team won the SELC Southwest Division championship, giving the Bulldogs the division’s No. 1 seed for the SELC Championships at Johns Creek, Ga., a couple of weeks from now. If I am reading it right (and I very well may not be), the WLCA Division I National Championship will be hosted in Colorado Springs on May 9 through 12, and will feature the country’s top 16 teams. Currently, the Georgia women’s lacrosse team is ranked eleventh.
You are now fully up to speed on the Bulldogs’ non-revenue sports. Now just show a modicum of patience, and I’ll get back to you about G-Day after a while.
Go ‘Dawgs!