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BSB: Georgia Returns to Action Friday Against No. 21 Florida

Fourth-ranked and SEC-leading Georgia returns to action Friday against No. 21 Florida. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. ET and be available on SECN+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

Game two of the series will be Saturday at noon ET (ESPN2) and Sunday’s action begins at noon ET (SECN).

Georgia (28-6, 10-2), ranked a consensus No. 4 in the national polls this week, is riding a season-long eight-game winning streak. The Gators (25-9, 7-5) feature one of the league’s best pitching staffs and just completed a season series sweep of No. 5 Florida State Tuesday. Last weekend in the SEC, UF dropped a home series to Ole Miss after the Rebels rallied for five runs in the ninth of the rubber game to win 5-2. UF leads the Georgia series 193-105-2 dating to 1931. In the Wes Johnson era, Georgia is 4-2 against the Gators including a three-game sweep in Gainesville last year. 

Georgia Leads Nation In Home Runs And SEC In Batting Average

            *Georgia has an NCAA-leading 98 Home Runs and .646 SLG% plus ranks third nationally in Runs (338), fifth in Scoring (9.9 runs per game), OB% (.455) and Batting (.329) and sixth in Fielding% (.984),  UF is batting .272 with 42 home runs, averages 6.9 runs per game and fielding .969.

            *Georgia junior C Daniel Jackson ranks sixth nationally with a team-high 16 home runs (including three grand slams) followed by junior 3B Tre Phelps with 14, senior SS Kolby Branch is next with 13 and senior 1B/C Brennan Hudson has 12. Branch ranks tied for seventh in Georgia history with 43 home runs and has 49 for his career counting the six he had for Baylor in 2023. Also, he has six career grand slams for the Bulldogs, one shy of the school record held by catcher Roger Miller (1986-89).

Georgia-UF Pitching Rotation 

Game 1: Joey Volchko (6-0, 3.89 ERA), RHP, Jr., vs. Aidan King (4-2, 1.62 ERA), RHP, So. 

Game 2: Dylan Vigue (3-1, 2.83 ERA), RHP, Jr.,  vs. Liam Peterson (1-2, 4.03 ERA), RHP, Jr.

Game 3: TBA vs. Russell Sandefer (2-1, 3.00 ERA), RHP, Jr.

*The Bulldogs have a 4.36 ERA with 362 strikeouts and 138 walks. Opponents are hitting .233.

*UF has a 3.70 ERA with 384 strikeouts and 121 walks. Opponents are hitting .222. 

Bullpen Stalwarts: Aoki, Byrd, Farley and Scott

            *Georgia’s quartet of graduate Caden Aoki, redshirt junior Justin Byrd, redshirt sophomore Paul Farley and senior Matt Scott are the backbone of the bullpen. They are a combined 8-1 with a 2.98 ERA and eight saves in 36 relief appearances over a span of 84.2 IP. 

Phelps & Jackson Named To Midseason Watch Lists

            *Junior 3B Tre Phelps (.413-14-39) is the SEC batting leader and Co-SEC Player of the Week. He leads the nation in Hit-By-Pitches (20) and is fourth in Runs Scored (48). Last weekend at #5 MSU, he batted .333 (5-for-15) with a home run, five RBI and tremendous defense. This past Tuesday, he went 1-for-2 with his first career grand slam in the win over Presbyterian. Phelps has been named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.       

            *Junior C Daniel Jackson (.408-16-49, 17 SB) ranks in the top 10 nationally in Home Runs, SLG% (.846), RBI (49) and Total Bases (110). Recently, he was named to the Midseason Watch Lists for the Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of the Year and the Golden Spikes Award.

            *Phelps and Jackson each have eight-game hitting streaks. Earlier this year, Jackson had a team-best 21-game streak while Phelps carried one over from last year that stretched to 27, one game shy of the school record.

Lujo Making An Impact

            *Sophomore OF/INF Rylan Lujo (.375-5-22) is putting together quite a year as he ranks third in batting (fifth in the SEC) behind the Golden Spikes Watch List duo of Tre Phelps and Daniel Jackson. In the road sweep of #5 MSU, Lujo led the starters with a .417 (5-for-12) batting average plus collected two doubles, a home run and five RBI. He started all three games in centerfield and registered five putouts including snagging a potential home run ball in a 5-5 game Saturday that Georgia would go on to win 8-5 in 10 innings. Overall, Lujo has played in 26 games with 21 starts.

They Said It

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson

On the bullpen success and potential Sunday starter…

“The beauty of the bullpen is the fact that all of those guys have started in their career and have done it as late as January or even earlier in the season. We’re going to try to win those first two games and use whoever we need to try to win those. When the dust settles, we’re going to look at Sunday.”

On going up against Florida’s pitchers…

“I just finished breaking down their pitchers’ arms. Their starters are really good, and you’ve got to get to them early. It’s going to be a fight. So if we get the chance to get to one of their starters, we’re going to do that.”

On competing as the fourth-ranked team in the country…

“I hope our guys come out more focused. We had a good weekend on the road, and that’s good. You draw a lot from that, and we’re able to talk about all the positives and the things we need to get better at. We also have six series left, and they can turn around really fast.”

#9 Kolby Branch | SS | Sr.

On the team’s approach to the weekend following success in SEC play…

“We’ve got to play one game at a time. With Florida coming to town this weekend, we approach it the same way as any other game. We don’t look at the series. We play each game one at a time.”

#5 Justin Byrd | RHP | R-Jr. 

On the Georgia bullpen…

“At this point, I don’t think it matters who goes out there. (Coach Wes Johnson) knows that we are going give it our all and go out there with a bunch of confidence. Even on the offensive side, they are going to go out there and put up a bunch of runs, so that gives us even more confidence.” 

Links To Follow The Bulldog Series

Friday @ 6 p.m. ET

Radio/TV: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston): https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4988

SECN+ (Matt Stewart & Jason Jacobs): https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/0bc5a118-68bd-4330-9071-a0520c66747d

Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=631900

Saturday @ Noon ET

Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston): https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4989&type=Live

ESPN2 (Dave Neal & Lance Cormier): https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/e149626c-7373-453c-aaa6-a2f4d3bb687f

Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=631901

Sunday @ Noon ET

Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston): https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4990&type=Live

SECN (Dave Neal & Lance Cormier): https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/611a7ffa-17a9-4246-b431-fe8e2ac7455b

Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=631902

Foley Field In 2026
·       Foley Field Gates Open 1 hour before first pitch 
·       Tickets –Limited Availability; Also Available on SeatGeek: https://seatgeek.com/georgia-bulldogs-baseball-tickets
·       UGA STUDENTS:  Free Admission and please enter at 3^rd Base Gate
·       Promotions For UF Series: 
·       Friday: A Georgia ’47 hat to the first 500 students; First 200 students receive Papa John’s pizza
·       Saturday: A “Foley Fairways” to the first 1,000 fans; First 150 students receive a Texas Roadhouse cheeseburger
·       Sunday: A Kyle Farmer shirsey to the first 1,000 fans; Pregame: Anthem Buddies; Postgame: Kids Run The Bases

WTEN: Dawgs Handle Alabama 4-0

The No. 1 Georgia women’s tennis team (16-4, 11-3 SEC) defeated No. 50 Alabama (12-10, 4-10 SEC), 4-0, at the Alabama Tennis Stadium, in its final road match of the regular season.

Fast Facts

• In the doubles session, Georgia’s top pair No. 9 Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte defeated Klara Milicevic and Karla Bartel, 6-2, on court 1.
• No. 4 Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert clinched the point with a 6-1 victory over Mary Sidelynk and Addison Bowman on court 2 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
• Georgia clinched the 4-0 sweep in singles play as Emily Deming made her dual match debut and opened with a 6-4, 2-0 lead over Sidelynk on court 6 before Sidelynk retired.
• No. 8 Mert followed on court 2 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Maria Andrienko, marking her third consecutive singles win.
• Paukstyte sealed the match on court 4 with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Alabama’s Bowman, marking her first appearance at the No. 4 position and her second clinch of the season.

Results

Doubles:

1. #9 Anastasiia Lopata/Patricija Paukstyte (UGA) def. Klara Millicevic/Karla Bartel (UA): 6-2

2. #4 Deniz Dilek/Aysegul Mert (UGA) def. Mary Sidelynk/Addison Bowman (UA): 6-1

3. Emma Dong/ Hayden Mulberry (UGA) vs. Maria Andrienko/Amina Salibayeva (UA): 4-3, unfinished

Singles:

1. #22 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) vs. #79 Klara Millicevic (UA): 6-3, 2-6, unfinished

2. #8 Aysegul Mert (UGA) def. Maria Andrienko (UA): 6-1, 6-2

3. #68 Deniz Dilek (UGA) vs. Karla Bartel (UA): 5-7, 2-3, unfinished 

4. Patricija Paukstyte (UGA) def. Addison Bowman (UA): 6-1, 6-3

5. #101 Sofia Rojas (UGA) vs. Amina Salibayeva (UA): 7-6(8), 1-1 unfinished

6. Emily Deming (UGA) def. Mary Sidelynk (UA): 6-4, 2-0, retired

Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1) ; Singles (6, 2, 4)

Up Next

No. 1 Georgia will host No. 55 Mississippi State on Saturday, April 11, at 3 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex for Senior Day. The Bulldogs will honor seniors Anastasiia Lopata, Sofia Rojas, Alexandra Vecic and Haley Gaudette.

Match 21 – No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 55 Mississippi State

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026

Time: 3 p.m. ET

Location: Athens, Ga

Site: Dan Magill Tennis Complex

Live Video/Stats: https://gado.gs/outdoorlive

MBB: Blue Cain Will Return

Blue Cain, who has started 74 consecutive games for the Georgia Bulldogs dating back to his freshman season, has signed to play for the Bulldogs again during the 2026-27 campaign.

A 6-5, 195-pound rising senior from Knoxville, Tenn., Cain already has secured his spot among Georgia’s all-time statistical leaders in several categories. Most notably, he currently holds the Bulldogs’ career record for best free throw percentage at .846 (154-of-182). In addition, he also ranks No. 43 in points (1,023), No. 15 in 3-pointers (141), No. 12 in 3-point attempts (428) and No. 19 in steals (122).

Cain enjoyed his most productive year as a Bulldog during the 2025-26 season, finishing second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg), assists (2.6 apg) and steals (1.4 spg) while logging a team-high 27.8 minutes of action per contest. He scored his 1,000th career point in the regular-season finale at Mississippi State on March 7, becoming the 49th Bulldog to reach the millennium milestone but the first to do so since Yante Maten in 2017. Cain also produced the second-best single-season free throw percentage ever at Georgia by converting 90.7 (78-of-86) trips to the line as a junior.

Cain moved into the starting lineup late in his freshman year at Georgia and got the nod for nine games while helping the Bulldogs advance to the semifinals of the 2024 NIT. He has started all 33 games in each of the last two seasons as Georgia earned back-to-back bids to the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time in school history. Cain is one of only 16 Bulldogs in UGA’s 121 seasons of hoops to play on three 20-win teams and is one of only three to start for all three teams that reached the 20-victory plateau.

Georgia recorded a school-record 22 regular-season wins last season and finished 10-8 in SEC play, the Bulldogs’ first winning record in the league since 2016. Georgia finished ranked among the nation’s top-5 teams in five statistics, leading the nation in both fastbreak points (19.8 ppg) and percentage of dunking FGs (18.8 pct) and ranking No. 3 in blocked shots (6.0 bpg), No. 5 in scoring offense (89.4 ppg) and No. 5 in bench points (34.7 ppg).

Cain is the fourth member of last season’s record-setting team that will return to the Bulldogs’ for the 2026-27 campaign. He joins:

• Marcus “Smurf” Millender, a 5-11, 175-pound rising senior guard from Houston Texas, who led the Bulldogs in assists and became the ninth player in school history with 100 assists and 50 3-pointers in the same season.

• Kareem Stagg, a 6-8, 230-pound rising sophomore forward from Chesapeake, Va., who emerged as a starter and key contributor during Georgia’s late-season surge to earn an NCAA Tournament bid by averaging 6.9 points per game over the final 10 contests of the season.

• Kanon Catchings, a 6-9, 220-pound rising junior forward from Brownsburg, Ind., who was the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer in SEC play at 13.7 points per game and was named SEC Player of the Week on March 9 after averaging 27.5 points in key late-season wins over No. 16 Alabama and Mississippi State to lock up an NCAA Tournament bid.

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