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BSB: Four former Georgia Bulldog lettermen made Opening Day rosters as the 2024 (MLB) season began Thursday

In Kansas City, Kyle Farmer (UGA 2010-13) started at second base for the Minnesota Twins in a 4-1 win over the Royals. An Atlanta native, he is in his second year with the Twins as a utility player. Last year, he batted .253 with 11 home runs and 46 RBI. He helped the Twins win their division and advance to the American League Division Series. In his MLB career covering 595 games, Farmer has a .254 average with 50 home runs and 229 RBI. He made his debut with the Dodgers in 2017 and then played for the Cincinnati Reds (2019-22) before joining the Twins.

In Arlington, Texas, the defending World Series Champion Rangers beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in 10 innings. First baseman Jared Walsh (UGA 2012-15) saw action at first but did not have a plate appearance. He is slated to start against right-handed pitchers. He made the 26-man squad after entering Spring Training on a minor league deal and then posted an .827 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) with three home runs. Walsh made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Los Angeles Angels and was named to the MLB All-Star Team in 2021. In his MLB career spanning 364 games, Walsh has a .240 average with 58 home runs and 184 RBI.

Left-hander Alex Wood (UGA 2010-12) started for the Oakland A’s against the Cleveland Guardians in an 8-0 loss.  A native of Charlotte, N.C., he has made the playoffs in seven of his 11 seasons in the Major Leagues including winning a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. He has been a part of playoff teams with Atlanta, San Francisco and the Dodgers. Wood made his debut with the Braves in 2013. Entering the 2024 season, he is 76-65 with a 3.74 ERA in 269 games including 202 starts. Last year, he was 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA with the Giants.

Pitcher Emerson Hancock (UGA 2018-20) is part of the Seattle Mariners rotation. He is scheduled to start Monday against the Guardians. Hancock was a first-round pick (sixth overall) in the 2020 MLB draft. A native of Cairo, Ga., he made his MLB debut last August with three starts before being shut down for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury. He posted an 0-0 mark and 4.50 ERA in 12 innings with six strikeouts.

The Triple-A affiliates in Minor League Baseball season open Friday while the rest of the levels (Single-A, High-A and Double-A) begin next Friday, Apr. 5.

There are a pair of former Bulldogs in Triple-A in outfielder Tucker Bradley (UGA 2017-2020) and infielder Aaron Schunk (2017-19). Bradley (Kansas City) and Schunk (Colorado) spent the entire Spring Training with their respective Major League clubs. Bradley will begin the season in Omaha while Schunk is in Albuquerque. Also of note, pitcher Jonathan Cannon (UGA 2020-22) enjoyed a fine Spring Training with the Chicago White Sox. He went 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings with just one walk and 10 strikeouts. Cannon finished the 2023 season in Double-AA with Birmingham.

Former Bulldog pitchers Zac Kristofak (UGA 2017-19/Angels) and Ben Harris (UGA 2021/Dodgers) saw action in Major League Spring Training games too. Currently, minor league teams are finalizing their rosters for the 2024 season. Georgia has close to 20 former players in professional baseball.

MTEN: Georgia set for Manny Diaz’ final home matches, starting today

The No. 34 Georgia men’s tennis team will play in its final home matches of the regular season this weekend, hosting No. 20 South Carolina on Friday, March at 5 p.m. ET for head coach Manuel Diaz’s retirement celebration and No. 32 Florida on Sunday, March 31 at 1 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

No. 34 GEORGIA (10-9, 3-4 SEC) VS. No. 20 SOUTH CAROLINA (10-9, 3-4 SEC) 

Coach Diaz Retirement Celebration

Date: March 29, 2024

Time: 5 p.m. ET

Location: Athens, Ga.

Venue: Dan Magill Tennis Complex

Promotion: Coach Diaz t-shirt for first 100 fans

Live Stats + Video: https://gado.gs/8mk

CrackedRacquets CrossCourt Cast: https://gado.gs/bnb

Celebration Festivities Post-Match

No. 34 GEORGIA (10-9, 3-4 SEC) VS. No. 32 FLORIDA (9-9, 3-5 SEC)

Date: March 31, 2024

Time: 1 p.m. ET

Location: Athens, Ga.

Venue: Dan Magill Tennis Complex

Promotion: Easter egg hunt

Live Stats + Video: https://gado.gs/8mk

CrackedRacquets CrossCourt Cast: https://gado.gs/bnc

Georgia Season Stats: https://gado.gs/b9y

South Carolina Season Stats: https://gado.gs/bne

Florida Season Stats: https://gado.gs/bnd

Coach Diaz Retirement Celebration: This weekend will mark the final home matches for the legendary head coach Diaz, who has led the Georgia men’s tennis program for 36 seasons. The program will honor him following the team’s match against South Carolina.

In his time with the Bulldogs, Coach Diaz has been named the SEC coach of the year seven times, with his teams winning 29 SEC championships, reaching the NCAA quarterfinals 27 times and winning a total of six National Championships. Coach Diaz will be retiring this year as the SEC’s all-time winningest coach.

The First Serve: Georgia owns a 42-10 record all-time against South Carolina. The Bulldogs hold a 20-match home win streak against the Gamecocks, winning all previous meetings in Athens dating back to April 22, 1989. South Carolina has never swept Georgia in any of its 10 wins, while the Bulldogs have swept the Gamecocks 14 times across 42 victories. South Carolina’s best win this season came at home over the two-time defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers, beating it 4-3 on Jan. 21. 

Georgia and Florida have played in 97 matches against each other, the most total dual matches against a single team in program history. The Bulldogs are 65-32 all-time against the Gators, beating them twice in the 2023 season – in Gainesville to clinch the program’s 32nd regular season SEC Championship and in the quarterfinals of the SEC Championships.

T&F: Wesley John ran the third-fastest 3,000-meter steeplechase in program history at the Raleigh Relays

Graduate student Wesley John ran the third-fastest 3,000-meter steeplechase in program history to lead the Georgia men’s track and field team on the opening day of the Raleigh Relays.

John posted a time of 8:54.03 to shave over three seconds off his previous personal best. The Watkinsville, Ga., native built on his previous success at NC State’s Paul Derr Track & Field Facility, where he clocked the No. 5 time in Georgia history (8:57.41) in the 2023 iteration of the Raleigh Relays.

In addition, a group of Bulldogs competed in the 1500-meter run and the 5,000-meter run to start Georgia’s weekend on the track.

When Do The Bulldogs Start Friday?: In Raleigh, Charlotte Augenstein and Nina Ouellette will take the track on Friday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET to compete in the 1500m. Lorel Golden and Gracie O’Neal will then run in the 3,000m steeplechase starting at 5:27 p.m.

The Bulldogs will also begin competition at the Battle on the Bayou on Friday. Dominique Mustin and Zoe Pollock will run the 400-meter hurdles to open Georgia’s day on the track in Baton Rouge at 6:10 p.m. ET. Long jumpers Micah Larry, Zavien Wolfe, and Leah Anderson will participate in the Bulldogs’ first field events of the day at 7 p.m.

Where To Catch The Action: There will be ESPN streaming coverage of the Raleigh Relays beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The Battle on the Bayou will not be live streamed.

ACCNX Info: Raleigh Relays – Day Two – Friday, March 29
ACCNX – https://gado.gs/bn2

Live Results: For results throughout the weekend from the Raleigh Relays, please visit: https://gado.gs/bn8

For results throughout the weekend from the Battle on the Bayou, please visit: https://gado.gs/bna

The Lowdown: John crossed the finish line in 8:54.03 to place 22^nd in the 3,000m steeplechase with a new personal record. The graduate student, who ranked fifth in school history in the event heading into today’s meet, moved to No. 3 on Georgia’s all-time top-10 list, surpassing Philip Bett’s time of 8:55.93 from the 2004 NCAA East Regionals. John only trails Matt Cleaver and Sam Gillespie for the fastest time in program history.

Earlier in the afternoon, junior Zack Truitt completed his first 1500-meter run of the season in 3:49.07 to finish just over three seconds shy of his personal record in 70^th place. Freshman Conner Rutherford made his collegiate outdoor debut in the event, finishing with a time of 3:52.38.

Freshman Ryan Olree clocked a time of 14:13.82 in the first outdoor 5000m of his collegiate career.

BSB: Dawgs travel to Knoxville for SEC series starting Friday

The No. 24 Georgia Bulldogs have another SEC road test starting Friday against No. 5 Tennessee.  First pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. The first game will be streamed on SECN+ while Saturday and Sunday’s action will be on the SEC Network. The entire series will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

The Bulldogs (21-4, 3-3 SEC) aim to keep their momentum going after a splendid week where they won four straight games while batting .358 with 18 home runs and outscoring their opponents 43 to 21. On Monday, Georgia, under the direction of Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson, made its debut in the Baseball America and the USA TODAY Coaches Sports Top 25 rankings at No. 24. Tuesday’s home game with Mercer was postponed due to rain. The Vols (22-4, 3-3 SEC) are 19-1 at home. The Bulldogs and Vols rank 1-2 nationally in home runs with Georgia tallying 74 on the year to Tennessee’s 68.

C+C Hitting Factory: Formed in 1989, C+C Music Factory had hit singles like “Gonna Make You Sweat,” “Here We Go and “Things That Make You Go Hmmm..” Now located in Athens, there’s “C+C Hitting Factory of Charlie Condon and Corey Collins that have pitchers sweating, fans barking and producing mammoth home runs that make everybody go hmmm.

Collins, a 6-3, 236-pound first baseman, is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after batting an SEC best .647-6-13 in helping Georgia go 4-0 last week. He started three games off with a home run.  On the year, Collins has 17 hits with 10 of them home runs.

Condon, a 6-6, 216-pound infielder/outfielder, is a National Player of the Year candidate and the potential number one overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft. Condon leads the nation in batting (.519), slugging percentage (.664), home runs (17) and on base percentage (.637). This season, he has started all 25 games with 11 at third base, five in left field, four in right field, three in centerfield and two at first base. Condon has a 1.000 fielding percentage in 73 total chances.

Series History: UT leads the all-time series 127-122 dating to 1909. Georgia won the 2023 series over #19 UT in Athens 2-1 while the top-ranked Vols claimed the 2022 series in Knoxville 2-1.

Starting Pitching Candidates: The UGA & UT pitching rotations will be announced Thursday afternoon by both clubs. Last weekend, Georgia’s rotation against Alabama featured graduate LHP Charlie Goldstein (3-0, 5.16), sophomore RHP Leighton Finley (2-1, 3.75) and graduate RHP Christian Mracna (3-1, 3.57). UT’s starters in the Ole Miss series were junior RHP AJ Causey (5-0, 1.91), junior RHP Drew Beam (3-1, 3.34) and senior LHP Zander Sechrist (0-0, 3.38).

Radio/TV/Live Stats Links

Friday at Tennessee, 6:30 p.m. ET (SECN+)

Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)

https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4584&type=Live

TV: SECN+ (Will Boling & Cody Hawn)

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/8877af9f-b840-417c-a81f-c7caf3c7a400

Live Stats: https://utsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Saturday at Tennessee, 5 p.m. ET (SECN)

Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)

https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4585&type=Live

TV: SECN (Dave Neal & Lance Cormier)

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/8b452353-d57b-43b3-90bd-0873e70945be

Live Stats: https://utsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Sunday at Tennessee, 2 p.m. ET (SECN)

Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)

https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4586&type=Live

TV: SECN (Dave Neal & Lance Cormier)

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/32d0d5cd-a73f-490a-a0c4-7bfb8a8615df

Live Stats: https://utsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Georgia Baseball Media Guide Link

https://issuu.com/georgiadogs/docs/24bsb_mediaguide

WGOLF: UGA welcomes a national field this weekend to the 52nd annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic. 

The No. 25-ranked Georgia women’s golf team will welcome a national field to the University of Georgia Golf Course this weekend to host the 52nd annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic. 

The tournament will feature 36 holes of play on Friday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Saturday’s final round also will begin at 8:30 a.m. but with traditional tee times. Admission for the event is free.

“We feel a lot of pressure hosting, truthfully,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “You want to make the event feel special and in today’s world, people add bells and whistles to do that. I just like to play golf and provide them with a great test. I think the NCAA giving Regional bids every three or four years and the number of national championships we’ve hosted speaks to the fact that our course is pretty special in its own right.”

Fifteen schools will be competing against the Bulldogs this weekend – Alabama; No. 10 Auburn; Augusta; Charleston; Emory, which is ranked No. 4 in Division III; No. 15 Florida; Georgia Southern; Illinois; Kansas State; Michigan; Missouri; N.C. State; San Diego State; No. 24 SMU; and No. 23 Virginia.

All 10 Georgia golfers are in the field, comprising “Red” and “Black” teams this weekend. 

Caterina Don will lead the “Red” squad, which also features Napat “Jenny” Lertsadwattana, LoraLie Cowart, Natachanok “Drive” Tunwannarux and Savannah De Bock. That group will begin Friday’s first and second rounds on holes Nos. 10-12. 

The “Black” quintet will tee off on holes Nos. 16-18 and include Bernice Olivarez Ilas, Celine Brovold Sanne, Isabella Holpfer, Kate Song and Grace Frei.

“Everyone gets a chance to play,” Brewer said. “Truthfully, it has been seven years since we’ve won our home tournament. For the five that are classified as ‘A’, we want to win. We want to win here, but we also want to get our first win of the year as we head into postseason. The group that is classified as ‘B’, those teams in the past have beaten a lot of highly ranked teams and come close even beating our ‘A’ team. It’s a massive challenge for them to step up and put up a final showing before we head into the postseason.”

Don, who is currently ranked No. 23 in the nation individually, will be participating in the Liz Murphey for the fifth time. During her career in, she has learned about the tournament’s namesake from former Georgia golfers.

“This event means a lot,” Don said. “Coach Murphey was a great person. She was amazing for this school, and she did so much for women’s golf and women’s sports in general. A couple of years ago when we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX, we heard some of the players that played for her tell us about her legacy and what she meant to them. That the tournament is still here today and is still such a great tournament is part of that legacy. We’re excited to host the tournament and play in it so I’m really excited.”

Georgia has enjoyed a steady 2023-24 campaign but Brewer believes his team’s best golf is ahead of it. Although Georgia is yet to notch a victory this season, the Bulldogs have three top-3 team finishes and 11 top-10 individual efforts.

“It’s hard to win in our sport,” Brewer said. “We don’t get to schedule cupcakes so it’s just difficult and you need a couple of things to fall right. If we have to wait three more weeks instead of this week to get our first win, I’ll be just as happy but again, I’d like to win our home tournament for the first time in a while.”

Georgia last won the Liz Murphey in 2017, when Jillian Hollis led the Bulldogs to their ninth sweep of the tournament’s team and individual crowns.

Don believes mindset is key to Georgia’s performance this weekend.

“I think it just takes a lot of confidence,” Don said. “We just need to go out there and have fun as a team. We have what it takes. We’ve worked hard. We know the course. We just need to believe in ourselves and go out there and have fun. We can’t predict how other teams are going to play, so we can’t be like ‘We’re going to win.’ But, we’re going to do our best. To get a win at home in our last tournament of the regular season would be even more special.”

The Liz Murphey will serve as the Bulldogs’ final tuneup before postseason play. Georgia will compete in the SEC Championships on April 12-16 and an NCAA Regional on May 6-8. The Bulldogs will be looking to notch their fourth-straight top-20 finish at the NCAA Championships, including tying for fifth two seasons ago.

Live scoring will be available throughout the Liz Murphey at www.golfstat.com.

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