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BSB: Georgia Takes Down No. 14 Tech at Truist Park

Fifth-ranked Georgia defeated 14th-ranked Georgia Tech 5-2 at Truist Park to win the Spring Classic benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) in front of a crowd of 15,000 on Tuesday. 

Fast Facts

• Georgia leads 15-7 in the annual Spring Classic series that has been played in the Atlanta Braves stadium or their Triple-A park since 2003. This is the first matchup at Truist Park. 
• With two home runs in the contest, the Bulldogs hit 100 home runs on the year as a team. 
• Senior Slate Alford extended his on-base streak to 22 games with a leadoff single to third base in the first.
• With the score even at two in the fourth, senior Devin Obee launched a solo blast to record his 10th home run of the year. 
• Just two batters later, junior Kolby Branch blasted a two-run shot to put the Bulldogs up 5-2. Branch has homered five times in the last five games. 
• Georgia used 10 pitchers on the night with junior Alton Davis II (3-0) earning the win.
  • Sophomore Jordan Stephens recorded the final three outs to tally his third save of the year. 
  • Graduate Charlie Goldstein struck out the side in the sixth after coming in in relief. 

Key Quote

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson

On tonight’s home runs…

“I thought the game was really slow for Kolby [Branch] tonight. I’ll start with him. He got a pitch out over the plate. A lot of people forget how many homers he hit last year. I think he had 18 last year. He’s got a lot of juice in his bat. Then what Devin [Obee]’s been doing, he got a pitch and backed it up. Obviously, he’s very strong, and he was able to run it out of here and break that tie. Those were big.” 

On winning against Georgia’s in-state rival…

“It’s very important, but I think with the league we play in, it’s more important to come out and play good baseball. They’re a really, really good team. I don’t want to misspeak here, but I think maybe they’re at the top of the ACC. I know they’ve got a few more games than some other people. For us, it was more about, ‘Hey, we’re going to play a good baseball team, regardless of where they are, who they are, and what their jersey says. We’re playing a quality team, and we want to go out and play good baseball against them because when we’re heading to Vanderbilt, that’s what we’re going to get.’” 

Alton Davis II | Junior | LHP

On what was going well for the pitching staff tonight…

“I would just say coming in and commanding the strike zone. Wes (Johnson) told a lot of us that we were going to get one inning or some of us one or two batters, and coming in and executing the pitches in the strike zone and just commanding is what we needed to do. I would say everybody did what they were supposed to do.” 

On his mindset going into the game…

“Wes (Johnson) and I have been talking about getting back to just pitching for myself and having fun and not trying to do too much for too many people. I would say today I came out and just wanted to be the kid I was when I was younger and have fun. Being in this park, that’s all you can do is have fun. I just wanted to come out here and have fun today and I think I did a very good job at that. Wes was really happy about it. That’s what he wanted.” 

Kolby Branch | Junior | SS

On hitting a home run in an MLB stadium…

“I’ve never done it before, and it was sick to do it. I think it barely got over the wall, so that was cool. It counts the same way, but it was a cool moment.” 

On the team’s current momentum…

“It’s big momentum. We had a bad series at Texas. We came back and fought back. Really good win over Presbyterian and then a good series against Arkansas and a good win tonight. These are all good wins that we can add onto and be ready to go into Nashville.” 

Up Next

Georgia (33-6, 10-5 SEC) will next travel to Nashville, Tennessee, for a three-game series against No. 19 Vanderbilt (26-10, 8-7 SEC) beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. (SECN+)  EDT.

MBB: Pro Dawgs Update

Former University of Georgia basketball players are making their presence felt across the globe, with several Bulldogs excelling in the NBA and others building impressive careers in top international leagues

On the final day of the NBA regular season, Anthony Edwards rained in seven 3-pointers to finish as the NBA’s 3-point leader with 320 made shots at 39.5 percent from the field. Edwards finished with one more made 3-pointer than Malik Beasley of the Detroit Pistons and nine ahead of Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, marking the first time in NBA history where three players surpassed 300 3-pointers made in the regular season. Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves earned the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and will face the L.A. Lakers in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs.

2013 first-round pick Kentavious Caldwell-Pope concluded his 12th NBA season, helping lift the Orlando Magic to a play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks. KCP has started all 77 regular-season games he played in this season, averaging 8.7 points, 1.3 steals and 2.2 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per game. Caldwell-Pope is playing his best ball at the tail-end of the season, averaging 10.6 points per game with 2.2 assists, including a 23-point, three steal, three rebound outing against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 1. 

Brooklyn Nets center Nicolas Claxton also had a great scoring month, averaging 12.5 points through four games, tying his previous season-high mark set in February. Claxton scored at an extremely high percentage, dropping 79.3 percent from the field while going 2-of-2 from 3-point land. 

Overseas, 16 Bulldogs are well into their seasons.

Aaron Cook is currently playing for ZZ Leiden in the Netherlands, where he averages 10.9 points, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals a game. Cook leads the 13-16 Leiden in assists, second in steals and third in points. The Leiden rank 10th in the BNXT League Standings and are third in the DBL standings. 

Tyree Crump started the 2024-2025 season by averaging 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the Arab Club Championship. He then moved to the Matero Magic in Zambia’s D1 league, then to the Mighty Barrolle of Liberia’s D1 league, and finally the Al Shurtah Police in the Iraqi Superleague, where he collected 6.9 points, 2.6  assists and  2.1 boards through eight games. 

Through 40 games with the RussianPari Nizhny Novgorod, 6-foot-8 power forward Nemanja “Demi” Djurisic is averaging 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Djurisic leads the Nizhny Novgorod in defensive rebounds, 2-pointers made and is second in total points, leading RussianPari to an 18-26 record in the VTB United League.

Mike Edwards transitioned from KK Pelister Sport Bitola, which competes in North Macedonia’s PRVA League and the ABA’s League 2, to Timisoara in Romania. Edwards has now played in eight countries (Romania, North Macedonia, Russia, the United States, Azerbaijan, Canada, Kosovo, and Russia). In seven games with his new team, Edwards is averaging 12.4 points and 5.4 rebounds, making 62.3 percent of his field goal attempts. 

J.J. Frazier has been playing extremely well in Turkey for Bordo Sportive Balikesir, leading the team in every offensive category except 2-pointers made. Frazier is averaging  20.2 points, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals, guiding Bordo to a 10th place 17-16 record. 

Rayshaun Hammonds leads his Suwon KT Sonicboom squad in scoring and rebounding with 18.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game through six East Asia Super League contests. In 54 games in the South Korea KBL, Hammonds is averaging 17.2  points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists. 

Jordan Harris has played in 23 games this season for SSD Real Sebastiani Rieti in Italy’s Serie A and A2. Harris is averaging 8.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists through eight games in Seria A, while posting 11.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists through 15 games in Seria A2.

Jailyn Ingram, a Madison, Ga., native, is averaging 12.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists through 24 games for the Tachikawa Dice in the Japanese B3 league, just three hours from Yante Maten. The small forward hasn’t appeared in a game since Jan. 12 due to an injury, as the Dice have fallen to a 14th-place 17-33 record in his absence. 

Augusta, Ga. native Mardrez McBride is playing in the Venezuelan SPB for the Frontinos Del Tachira, averaging 12.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists through eight games.  

Yante Maten is putting up strong numbers for the San-En NeoPhoenix in Japan’s B1 league. Maten leads the NeoPhoenix, ranks third in the league in blocks, and ranks second on the team in points and first in rebounds. He is averaging 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, helping San-En to a league-best 44-7 record. 

Derek Ogbeide has now fully adjusted after making the move from Slovenia to Israel in November, now playing for Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem. In 11 domestic contests, Ogbeide is averaging 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds. 

Veteran Gerald Robinson is playing in his 10th country for the Rivierabanca Basket Rimini of Italy’s Serie A2. The 13-year veteran is averaging 12.0  points, 4.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds for the franchise, which holds second place in the Serie A2 standings with a 25-11 record.

After beginning the season in Turkey, Noah Thomasson transitioned to KK Mornar in Montenegro, averaging 10.2 points, 1.8 boards and 3.2 assists through 21 games. 

Trey Thompkins returned to Spain for the 2024-25 campaign, playing with Leyma Basquet Coruna. Through 24 contests, he is averaging 12.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.  

Veteran Terrance Woodbury continues to put up big numbers in Japan, averaging 17.1 points 6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 49 games. Woodbury leads Shinshu Brave Warriors Nagano and ranks 12th in the B2 League in points and is Shinshu’s leader in 3-point makes. 

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