Building For The Finish

In the baseball-powerful SEC, there is hardly such a thing as an off weekend. But Georgia took advantage of the closest thing to it against Tennessee, winning the series and nearly pulling off a sweep, losing 6-5 on Sunday in ten innings after rallying from a 5-0 deficit

After weekends of losing two of three to a pair of ranked opponents, Kentucky and Ole Miss, the Bulldogs cashed in, responding to repeated offensive bursts by the Volunteers with offensive jabs of their own as the weekend series at Foley Field resembled more of a slugfest at times than anything else.

On Friday, Georgia trailed 3-1 before tying it prior to blowing the game open with a four-run fifth in an 8-6 victory. On Saturday, a quarter of runs in the second and fifth built an 8-2 lead on the way to a 12-4 win.

The weekend came on the heels of a 16-game stretch in which all but two games were against ranked opponents - the contests against Georgia Tech. In that span, Georgia was 9-7 - a soild mark, but one that could have easily been a bit stronger.

For this team, it may as well be the golf version of moving day during the next few weeks. After this weekend’s trip to Mizzou, the annual a game against Tech at Suntrust Park awaits before a road series at top-ranked Florida and home tilt against Arkansas wrap up SEC regular season play before the conference tournament.

How Georgia handles the next few weeks, and the adversity that comes with it, will determine how it shakes out as far as regionals go and is able to build its postseason resume.

A season sweep of Clemson should help Georgia’s case, but series wins against Florida and Arkansas would go a long way as well. Ironically, the most recent BaseballAmerica projection last week had Georgia playing in the Clemson regional as a No. 2 seed.

The Bulldogs have asserted themselves as a contender by way of quality pitching and timely hitting. These next few weeks, however, will define this squad.