Beyond the Hedges has the World Series on it's mind

After a wacky week of wet weather, the cold is coming in and that means playoff baseball and plenty of other fall sports getting to the meaty parts of their season.  Forgotten perhaps after a weekend full of football, including Georgia's first ever Sunday regular season game, here comes your weekly reminder of the action going on in the UGA sports world outside 80,000+ seat stadiums.

BASEBALL

As said at the top, it's playoff baseball time.  And this year, there's a trio of Dawgs still suiting up in big league clubhouses right now.  Justin Grimm has carved out a steady role in the Chicago Cubs' bullpen over the last three years, and may need a little goat roasting too as they attempt to break their curse.  The other two former Diamond Dawgs are hoping to meet Grimm's team in the National League Championship Series should the Dodgers get a game 5 over the Washington Nationals on Thursday.  Alex Wood was sent over in a large trade from the Braves last year, and has been working out of the Los Angeles bullpen since recovering from an elbow injury that took him out most of the summer.  The lefty is joined in that bullpen by Josh Fields, who came over in an August trade from Houston and has struck out three of the four batters he's faced so far in the post season.

The current Diamond Dawgs will have a World Series of their own to conclude fall ball.  The first game will be Thursday afternoon, at Foley Field at 3 p.m., and free for fans wanting to attend.

BASKETBALL

Practice is underway, with games starting in less than a month for both the men and women.  Head coach Joni Taylor has issued a challenge to fans to increase already strong season ticket sales, promising to donate to The Cottage if another 500 are sold. Sophomore F/C Caliya Robinson is ready to go after one of the best freshman campaings in the SEC last year.  Meanwhile on the men's side of the court, sophomore Turtle Jackson is looking to take on a larger role this winter, while freshman Tyree Crump is looking to fill a similar significant role in Mark Fox's backcourt.  This is a team that should be dancing next spring, and fun to watch all winter.

CROSS COUNTRY

The Woods Dawgs will be racing through the hills of Tuscaloosa this weekend in their final meet before the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Halloween weekend.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Jack Bauerle's Water Dawgs were in North Carolina this past weekend, where they opened their season sweeping the Tar Heels. They'll next host Florida on Friday morning, the 28th, later this month.  Three Dawgs were rewarded for their efforts in Chapel Hill, as senior Chase Kalisz won the SEC Male Swimmer of the Week, junior Megan Kinglsey was named Female Swimmer of the Week, and Javier Acevedo claimed the SEC Male Freshman Swimmer of the Week award.

GYMNASTICS

Another week, another live Periscope with Danna Durante.  This round included sophomore Sydney Snead for the Q&A session.

VOLLEYBALL

For the first time since before Thanksgiving of 2014, we won a conference game!   We followed it up with a loss to LSU Sunday, but get a chance for #2 tonight in Auburn.  The match will be live on the SEC Network at 8 for those that want to watch.

EQUESTRIAN

The meet with fellow powerhouse program South Carolina was pushed back to Sunday, and we fell 9-8.  The Horse Dawgs will look to get their first W of the fall when Tennessee-Martin comes to the complex out in Bishop on Oct. 22 at 10 a.m.

SOCCER

The Kicking Dawgs fell in Florida on Thursday last week, but bounced back to get off the snide themselves, registering their first SEC victory of the season over LSU Sunday in Athens.  They'll take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa tomorrow, and you can watch it live on the SEC Network at 7.

TENNIS

Wayne Montgomery fell in the first round of the main draw at the ITA All-Americans last week, but sophomore Emil Reinberg was much more successful in Atlanta.  He joined freshman Nathan Ponwith in victory over Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski in an all-Dawg doubles final at the Georgia Tech Invitational before beating Tennessee's Timo Stodder to claim the singles crown.  The men won't get any rest any time soon, as they have the ITA/Oracle Championships in Malibu tomorrow through Sunday and the ITA Southeast Regional Championships in Tallahassee starting next Wednesday.

The ladies will also be at the Oracle Championships this weekend, with a trip to Florence, SC for the Florence ITF $25k on Monday, and their ITA Regionals in Gainesville, Florida next weekend.  Junior Kennedy Schaffer made a run at the ITA/Riviera All-Americans last weekend, winning two matches Friday before succumbing to the nation's 2nd ranked player, out of Pepperdine, in the consolation semi-finals.

GOLF

The men are resting up until the Cypress Point Classic in California on Halloween.  On the ladies side of things, Georgia will be hosting a regional in the NCAA Tournament this coming May 8-10 and announced Emilie Meason has been added to the staff as an assistant coach.  Meason was a four-time All-American in her career at Georgia, where the Hoschton native was known by her maiden name of Emilie Burger.  They'll be hitting the links in Stanford, at the Stanford Intercollegiate, Friday through Sunday, to close out the fall portion of their schedule.

And as always, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAWGS!