SOFTBALL: Dawgs Open Bulldog Classic With Two Wins

Sophomore centerfielder Jayda Kearney notched a five-hit day, helping guide the 16^th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs to a 6-2 win over Ohio and an 8-2 win over UMass to open the Bulldog Classic Friday at Jack Turner Stadium.

The Bulldogs have won 10-straight games and climb to 16-2 on the season.

Kearney’s strong day at the plate included two home runs, a triple, and six RBI. She was on base six times and score four runs.

No. 16 Georgia 6, Ohio 2

Kearney put on an offensive show in the first game of the day, going 3-for-3 (single, home run, triple) with four RBI in the contest. Sara Mosley and Ellie Armistead also contributed two hits each as the Bulldogs scattered nine altogether.

Britton Rogers (6-1) earned the victory in the circle, working five and two-thirds innings. Rogers allowed two runs on five hits, striking out five. Madison Kerpics earned her first save in the circle this season, not allowing any hits in one and a third with three K’s.

Georgia loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the first. A walk to Sydney Kuma pushed the first Georgia run of the inning in. Kearney then dropped a base hit into right, driving in two more runs and widening the first inning lead to 3-0.

Leadoff home runs in the second and third innings for Ohio (3-8) cut the Bulldogs’ lead to one, 3-2.

The Bulldogs added to their lead in the fourth with back-to-back home runs, first a two-run shot off the bat of Kearney followed by a solo homer from Payden Bordeau to bring the tally to 6-2 after four.

Georgia’s 6-2 advantage held en route to the Bulldogs’ 15^th victory of the season.

No. 16 Georgia 8, UMass 2

Kearney’s day wasn’t done between games as she registered a 2-for-3 performance in the nightcap with a two-run home run and scoring three times. Fellow sophomore Aniyah Black added two hits of her own including her first career home run. 

Freshman Kylie Macy worked four complete innings in her start, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out seven Minutewomen. Kerpics (6-1) made her second appearance of the day out of the pen, picking up the victory after three innings of shutout softball with six K’s. She finished the day with nine strikeouts in 4.1 innings, allowing no runs on two hits.

Black blasted a three-run home run, the first of her career, to right center, putting the Bulldogs ahead 3-0 in the home half of the second.

UMass knocked a solo home run in the top of the fourth to jump on the board, 3-1.

With runners on first and third, a delayed double steal allowed Kearney to swipe home and bring the Georgia lead to 4-1.

Another solo home run from a Minutewoman (4-7) cut the Bulldog lead back to two, 4-2, in the fifth.

Georgia scored a four unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth. With runners in scoring position following an error, Savana Sikes tagged up and scored on a sac fly off the bat of Mosley. A wild pitch then plated Kuma. Kearney’s big day at the plate continued later in the inning as she blasted her second home run of the day, a two-run shot, completing the four-run inning and bringing Georgia’s lead to 8-2 after five.

Kerpics kept UMass at bay the remainder of the game en route to Georgia’s second victory of the day.

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TENNIS: Georgia Teams Open SEC Play with Wins

Women:

The eighth-ranked University of Georgia women’s tennis team blanked the 46th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels 7-0 Friday evening, in the Southeastern Conference opener. 

In doubles, Georgia (4-2, 1-0 SEC) took two of three from Ole Miss (6-3, 0-1 SEC). The freshman tandem Mell Reasco and Dasha Vidmanova defeated the 22nd-ranked pair in Ludmila Kareisova and Kelsey Mize 6-3. After graduate Meg Kowalksi and freshman Mai Nirundorn dropped the match on court three 7-5, the duo of Graduate Morgan Coppoc and junior Ania Hertel came back from down 4-2 to force a tie-breaker on court one. The experienced pair outlasted Ole Miss’ Sabina Machalova and Rachel Krzyzak to win 7-6(5) and clinch the doubles point.

The Bulldogs swept the Rebels in singles play, with wins from No. 22 Reasco, No. 42 Lea Ma, No. 58 Kowalski, No. 99 Vidmanova, No. 101 Hertel and Coppoc. Resco, earned the first singles point for UGA, defeating Anaelle Leclercq in straight sets, 7-5, 6-0. She was quickly followed by Coppoc, who topped Reka Zadori 6-0, 6-4. The match was clinched by Hertel, who also earned a straight-set win, besting Lillian Gabrielsen 6-3, 6-4.

While playing the match out, Kowalski beat Rachel Krzyzak 6-4, 6-1, and Vidmanova defeated Ludmila Kareisova 6-2, 6-4. With play remaining on court one, Ma rallied to top No. 105 Sabina Machalova in a three-set match 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

MEN:

The Georgia men’s tennis program traveled to Nashville, Tenn. to open SEC play against No. 53 Vanderbilt, and the No. 22-ranked Bulldogs came out on top, defeating the Commodores 4-3 Friday afternoon. 

Graduate transfer and the reigning SEC Athlete of the Week, Hamish Stewart clinched the match for Georgia in his second-straight clinching performance in a four-day span. No. 22-ranked Stewart ousted No. 54-ranked George Harwell, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 on court one. Stewart improves to 18-8 overall, 10-2 in the dual season, 10-4 against nationally ranked opponents and is on a four-match win streak. . 

Georgia secured the doubles point from wins on courts two and three. The No. 41-ranked doubles pair of seniors Philip Henning and Trent Bryde got off to a racing start in their match going up 4-1. The duo defeated Vanderbilt’s George Harwell and Max Freeman, 6-3 to grab the first win. No. 60-ranked graduate transfer tandem Tristan McCormick and Stewart fell to Siim Troost and Michael Ross, 6-3. The No. 42-ranked pair of senior Blake Croyder and junior Erik Grevelius took down Marcus Ferreira and Joubert Klopper 6-4 ln court three. 

The Bulldogs went into singles play up 1-0 over the Commodores. 

McCormick surged to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Klopper on court two. No.47 McCormick is now 12-4 overall, 9-2 in dual play and has won seven of his last ten singles matches. With the Bulldogs now up 2-0 in the match, the Commodores rallied. Freeman handed No.76-ranked Croyder his first loss of the dual season and broke his 13-match win streak. The Bulldogs’ lead was cut to 2-1.

The Bulldogs answered after No. 79-ranked singles player, Bryde found his stride in the third set to bring the match to 3-1 in favor of the Bulldogs. Bryde defeated Ferreira 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.  However, the Commodores would again cut the Bulldogs’ lead down to one point with Jeremie Casabon’s three-set win over Thomas Paulsell 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. 

With the match score 3-2, two Georgia players were left playing on courts one and six. Grevelius, in his first dual singles appearance, was in a back-and-forth match at No. 6 with Troost. However, Troost got the better of Grevelius in a 7-6(7-4), 4-6, 7-5 victory. While Stewart clinched the match for Georgia to improve to 5-1 at the No.1 position

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BASEBALL: Tech Wins First Game of Series 11-7

The 19^th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defeated No. 14 Georgia 11-7 Friday in front of a sellout crowd of 3,394 at Mac Nease Park.

Tech (9-1) grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first on three hits, an error plus a high throw home that brought in the first run on a fielder’s choice. Drew Compton’s two-run double was the big hit in the frame. Georgia got a run back in the fourth on sophomore Corey Collins’ second home run of the year. It extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games going back to last year. Tech responded with a three-run home run from Tim Borden to make it 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Bulldog starter Jonathan Cannon entered the game leading the nation with 14.1 scoreless innings on the year. He went six innings and allowed six runs on seven hits with one walk and eight strikeouts to fall to 2-1 on the year. Tech right-hander Chance Huff improved to 3-0, tossing a career-high seven innings with six strikeouts.

Down 8-1, Georgia came storming back in the eighth, rallying for six runs on five hits off the in the eighth to make it 8-7. In the frame, Josh McAllister’s two-run double brought the Bulldogs to within one. However, Tech answered with a three runs in the bottom of the eighth for the final. A bright spot in that inning came after Tech’s outburst with a solid debut by Bulldog freshman Chandler Marsh. With two on and nobody out, he retired the first three hitters he faced including a pair of strikeouts to put an end to the inning.

“You have to play clean baseball when you face a good team, and we didn’t play clean and they made us pay,” said Georgia’s Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. “You never know how that first inning would’ve gone if we don’t make an error and make the throw home, it could’ve been a 0-0 game. Still, I was happy with the way we fought back and made it a one-run game. We battled.

“Chance (Huff) was throwing three pitches for strikes, he had his full arsenal tonight for them. I didn’t think Jonathan (Cannon) pitched bad as he was able to go six innings but there were a couple of mistakes, and they made us pay for it. I thought Chandler Marsh was sharp in his debut. He came in and was throwing 94 miles per hour and got us out of the eighth inning. He is going to get more opportunities for sure.”

It was the first loss of the year for the Bulldogs (8-1). The teams continue the series Saturday in Athens with first pitch at sold out Foley Field scheduled for 2:02 p.m. (SECN+). The three-game set concludes Sunday and will serve as the 19^th annual Spring Baseball Classic to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Sunday’s game will be played at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville with first pitch at 2 p.m.

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MBB: Georgia (1-16 SEC) vs. Missouri (4-13 SEC) Tonight

Tipoff: 3:30 p.m. ET

Location: Mizzou Arena (15,061) in Columbia, Mo.

Watch: SEC Network (Dave Neal, pbp; Jon Sunvold, analyst)

Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network – Flagship: WSB AM 750; XM: 388; SXM App: 978. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

The Starting 5…

• Braelen Bridges’ current field goal percentage of .643 is No. 1 in UGA and No. 14 in SEC history for a season.

• Aaron Cook will play in his 163rd college basketball game, the third-most ever by any MBB Division I player.

• Aaron Cook’s 160 assists ranks No. 3 among UGA’s all-time season leaders…and is 9 from the No. 2 mark.

• Eight of Kario Oquendo’s 10 20-point games have come in SEC play, including a career-high 33 at Texas A&M on 2/22.

• Jaxon Etter has drawn 30 charges in 29 games played this season…and 38 in his last 40 GP dating back to last season.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will wrap up their 2021-22 regular-season slate on Saturday a matinee matchup with Missouri in Columbia.

The outing will serve as a homecoming for a pair of Bulldogs. Aaron Cook and Dalen Ridgnal hail from St. Louis and Kansas City, respectively. Cook was a first-team Class 4 All-State performer at Westminster Christian Academy, and Ridgnal helped Rockhurst High reach the “Elite Eight” round of the 2018 Missouri Class 5 state tourney.

Their treks to Athens have been winding.

Cook is a “super senior” who played four seasons at Southern Illinois and another at Gonzaga before arriving at UGA. Ridgnal’s senior season of high school was spent at Lincoln Academy in Georgia before he was a two-time JUSO All-American at Cowley College.

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T&F: Georgia Has Eight Qualifiers for NCAA Indoor Championships

The top-ranked Bulldog men’s team has qualified five and the Lady Bulldogs have qualified three for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships.

The meet is scheduled to run Friday, March 11 through Saturday, March 12 in the Birmingham Crossplex.

The Georgia men have qualified five individuals along with 4×400-meter relay alternate Delano Dunkley in six different events.  The Lady Bulldogs will be taking three individuals who are slated to compete in four different events.

MEN (national rankings listed after each event)

Junior Matthew Boling (Houston, Texas): 60m (No. 9 – 6.59), 200m (No. 1 – 20.27), 4x400m relay (No. 3 – school record 3:02.59), long jump (No. 1 – school record 8.25 meters/27 feet, 1 inch); Boling most recently won the SEC Commissioner’s Trophy after being the top scorer on the men’s side with a win in the 60m and 4x400m relay and a runner-up finish in the long jump

Senior Elija Godwin (Covington, Ga.): 400m (No. 4 – 45.38), 4x400m relay (No. 3 – school record 3:02.59); Godwin most recently ran the anchor leg (44.95) of the winning relay and was 10^th in the 400m at SECs

Junior Caleb Cavanaugh (Houston, Texas): 4x400m relay (No. 3 – school record 3:02.59); Cavanaugh most recently ran a 45.37 for the winning relay team, a 46.56 leg for the school record-breaking distance medley relay and a personal record 47.09 for 15^th in the 400m at the conference meet

Freshman Bryce McCray (Richmond, Texas): 4x400m relay (No. 3 – school record 3:02.59); McCray most recently ran the third leg (46.77) of the winning relay team at SECs

Junior Kyle Garland (Philadelphia, Pa.): Heptathlon (No. 2 – No. 5 all-time collegiate performer with 6,205 points); Garland most recently tied the league record by capturing his third straight SEC heptathlon title with his meet record career best tally

Senior *Delano Dunkley (Black River, Jamaica): 4x400m relay; Dunkley most recently posted a personal record of 21.26 to take 17^th in the 200m at SECs

*4x400m relay alternate

WOMEN

Freshman Elena Kulichenko (Odintsovo, Russia): High jump (No. 15 – 1.83m/6-0); Kulichenko most recently earned All-SEC Freshman honors with her mark of 1.82m/5-11.50 to take fourth at SECs

Senior Titiana Marsh (Chester, Va.): Triple jump (No. 10 – 13.56m/44-6), long jump (No. 16 – 6.35m/20-10); Marsh most recently scored in a pair of events, finishing fourth in the triple and long jumps at the conference meet

Junior Ana da Silva (Ribeirao das Neves, Brazil): Shot put (No. 9 – school record 17.52m/57-5.75); da Silva most recently shattered the school record for the second straight meet after earning bronze medal honors at her first SEC meet

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UGA Tennis Teams Will Be “Serving for a Cause”

The University of Georgia men’s and women’s tennis team have announced that they will be partnering with the Boys and Girls Club of Athens throughout conference play for a season-long fundraising effort known as “Serving for a Cause.”

The goal of Serving for a Cause will be to generate money to send local children at the Boys and Girls Club of Athens to summer camp. The Boys and Girls Club summer camp offers families in Athens the opportunity to send their children to the Boys and Girls Club while the school-year program is not in session. 

You can show your support by donating at https://link.edgepilot.com/s/a825c704/0VEpoVweN0aUW6Ezvij75w?u=https://gado.gs/8nk or attending home tennis matches to make donations in person.

Men’s tennis schedule link: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/8213c22d/wzhBLMael0638Ehd1TL3Qg?u=https://gado.gs/8nm

Women’s tennis schedule link: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/7322903f/AprVlPTnCkaSYnk4HLejiQ?u=https://gado.gs/8no

“It is a worthy and great project to try to raise money for our community and help out the Boys and Girls Club here in Athens,” said Georgia women’s tennis head coach Jeff Wallace. “We’re excited to partner with our men’s team. Anytime we work together with those guys and be unified for Georgia Athletics and support a great cause like this is always special.”

“It speaks a lot to our players,” said Georgia men’s tennis head coach Manuel Diaz. “They understand their responsibility that comes along with being a member of the Georgia Tennis program and their responsibility for giving back to our community. It’s very impressive for these young men and women to take on this challenge and make an impact on others’ lives in our community.”

In previous years, the tennis teams have hosted First Serve, an hour-long tennis clinic to introduce the community to the game of tennis, volunteered at Special Pops, a special needs tennis clinic, teaching tennis to those who attend the clinic, Food2Kids Snack Drive benefiting the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, distributed groceries to underprivileged Athens residents in a mobile pantry car drive, and “Giving Challenge” which encouraged Georgia students to donate toiletries for unhoused populations vis Bigger Visions Community Shelter.

The Bulldogs will open SEC play this weekend with Ole Miss on Friday, March 4 at 3 p.m. and Mississippi State on Sunday, March 6 at 1 p.m.

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