Jump To Top of Page

BSB: Georgia Opens SEC Play With Loss to Tennessee

Sixth-ranked Georgia fell to No. 21 Tennessee, 7-4, on opening day of Southeastern Conference play Friday at Foley Field.

Fast Facts 

•  Junior Joey Volchko got the start on the mound for Georgia (15-4, 0-1 SEC) and tossed five innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts. Tennessee’s Brandon Arvidson (1-0) received the win, while junior Justin Byrd (0-1) was credited with the loss. 
• Tennessee (14-4, 1-0 SEC) opened scoring in the third inning with two runs off an RBI single by Henry Ford. 
• The Bulldogs broke open in the bottom of the fifth with four runs. With two outs on the board, junior Ryan Black stepped to the plate and launched his fourth home run of the season to give Georgia its first run. Sophomore Rylan Lujo singled and stole second before an RBI single from Brennan Hudson plated him to knot the board. Junior Tre Phelps extended his on-base streak to 33 games dating to last year with a double to left center before he and Hudson scored off a Daniel Jackson two-RBI single to give the Bulldogs a 4-2 boost. 
• After two scoreless innings for the Volunteers, they answered in the top of the sixth with a two-RBI double to tie it, 4-4. Tennessee then had back-to-back home run innings in the seventh and two in the eighth, to take a 7-4 lead.  

Quotes 

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson 

On the team’s performance…

“We’ve got to do a better job of executing with two strikes. We can’t miss our spot as bad as we did. You’ve got to tip your hat to them, their hitters. We had some of the same pitches, but we didn’t do damage on them. When you’re playing quality teams in our league on Friday night, it’s going to come down to the guys who can hit the mistakes, and the guys that can’t do that usually don’t come out on top. Tonight, we didn’t. We had one inning where we mustered something together, but we’ve got to do a better job of grinding out at bats and executing pitches in the areas we’re trying to get them to with two strikes.”

Up Next
The Bulldogs will return to action Saturday evening for the second game of the series against the Volunteers. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. The game will be live on the SEC Network and on the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network.

GYM: Georgia Defeats No. 4 Alabama

TEAM SCORES
    No. 6 Georgia: 197.525
    No.  4 Alabama: 197.425

Georgia’s Season Record: 15-3, 5-3 SEC

GymDogs Event Scores:
Vault: 49.475 | Bars: 49.375 | Beam: 49.175 | Floor: 49.500

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The sixth-ranked Georgia gymnastics team beat No. 4 Alabama on Friday evening at Coleman Coliseum, 197.525-197.425.

Georgia concludes the regular season 15-3 overall and 5-3 in SEC action.

FAST FACTS

• The win is Georgia’s first over Alabama in Tuscaloosa since Feb. 10, 2006. It was Alabama’s only home loss this season.
• Georgia’s 197.525 is its highest road SEC score of the season and its highest in a road dual meet.  
• Georgia posted a 49.375 on bars to open the meet. Senior Ja’ Free Scott and freshman Autumn Reingold closed out the rotation with a 9.900 and 9.950, respectively. Reingold finished in a four-way tie for the bars title, her fourth bars title of the season.
• The GymDogs’ team vault score of 49.475 tied a season high. Freshmen CaMarah Williams and Avery Moll each shared the vault title on Friday with a 9.925. It is Williams’ fourth vault win of the season and the first-ever event win for Moll. The mark set a career high for Moll while fellow freshman Brooke Pierson also set a career high with 9.850.
• C. Williams paced the GymDogs on floor with a 9.950, her ninth floor score of 9.900 or better, to finish second. Georgia counted four scores of 9.900 or better, including a 9.925 from sophomore Harley Tomlin and a season-high 9.900 from senior Csenge Bácskay. It was Bácskay’s first 9.900 on floor in her GymDog career. The GymDogs concluded the rotation with a 49.500 on floor.
• Scott anchored Georgia’s beam lineup with a 9.900 to clinch the meet for Georgia and a share of the beam title, her second of the season.

KEY QUOTES
Co-Head Coach Ryan Roberts
On Friday’s road win…
“This team is very resilient, so coming down to that last routine is huge, especially in the postseason. Ja’ Free [Scott] came in and hit that routine like she did, and it always comes down to those quarter tenths in postseason, so I was really proud of that. Overall, time and time again, they’ve been stepping up. If someone has to step in because of an injury or a change in the lineup, they keep going forward. I’m very impressed and very excited for this team moving forward.”

UP NEXT
Georgia will await its seeding in the 2026 SEC Championships. The SEC Championship will take place Saturday, March 21 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Session 1 will feature seeds 5-9 and will begin at 3 p.m. ET with the top four seeds facing off at 8 p.m. ET.

Jump To Today’s Discussion Thread