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BSB Gallery: Leighton Finley named SEC Baseball Pitcher of the Week

University of Georgia sophomore Leighton Finley has been named the Southeastern Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week; the league announced Monday.

Finley, a 6-5, 235-pound right-hander from Richmond Hill, Ga., tossed six shutout innings with 11 strikeouts, both career highs, in a 10-0 win over No. 13 Vanderbilt. He allowed just three singles and only two runners reached scoring position this past Friday. He was part of a combined three-hit shutout in setting the tone as the Bulldogs swept the Commodores for the first time since 2003. Finley is 4-1 with a 4.53 ERA in 12 starts, registering 54 strikeouts in 53.2 innings.

Georgia checks in at No. 12 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Top 25, No. 14 in the latest Baseball America rankings and No. 15 in the D1Baseball.com weekly poll.

Up next, Georgia (35-12, 13-11 SEC) visits No. 14 South Carolina (32-15, 13-11 SEC) for a series starting Thursday. First pitch in Columbia will be at 8:02 p.m. and be televised on ESPNU and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. 

WGOLF: Dawgs open Auburn Regional in eighth

The No. 23-ranked Georgia women’s golf team shot 306 in Monday’s opening round of the NCAA Auburn Regional, placing the Bulldogs in eighth on the team leaderboard at Auburn University Club.

Fast Facts

• Graduate Napat “Jenny” Lertsadwattana led the Bulldogs on Monday with a 2-over 74. Georgia also counted a pair of 77s from Savannah De Bock and Caterina Don and a 78 from Bernice Olivarez Ilas.

• The Auburn Regional is a 54-hole tournament, with the top-5 teams on the final leaderboard advancing to the NCAA Championships.

• Georgia is eight shots off the current cut for the NCAAs, which features a three-way tie for third between No. 14 Oregon, Houston and Tulsa.

• The Bulldogs will be paired with Miami and East Tennessee State on Tuesday, teeing off between 9:55-10:39 ET from No. 1.

• Georgia is looking to advance to the NCAA Championships and record a top-20 national finish for the fourth straight season.

Key Quotes

“Obviously, you’d rather be leading the golf tournament, but you also know you’re probably going to have a stretch that’s not your best during postseason,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “I wish it wasn’t quite what it is, but we’re in that position. We’ve got two-thirds of the golf tournament left, so we’ve got to go play and move up.”

“We did this at SECs,” Brewer said. “We struggled in the opening round and then really played well on day two and most of day three. We have that to fall back on. That’s how we’ll approach it and let’s face it, we do have that the piece in our back pocket. We know how to close out under these stressful situations. It wasn’t the perfect start but on Wednesday when you’re talking to me, I hope I’m a little happier.”

Up Next

The Bulldogs will continue play at the Auburn Regional through Wednesday. Following the final round, the top-5 teams on the leaderboard will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on Carlsbad, Calif, on May 17-22.

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