A jam-packed, beautiful weekend in the Classic City filled with Dawg victories is always a pleasant sight, and this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was not a disappointment for the red and black.
Baseball
The Diamond Dawgs hosted Lipscomb for a three-game series over the weekend, posting shutouts on Friday and Saturday, winning 10-0 and 7-0. Their 3-2 win on Sunday with some extra innings magic secured the sweep for Georgia.
On Friday, Luke Wagner (3-0) took to the mound for the start and posted a career-high six-inning appearance. Nolan Crisp took over and gained the save. The two Georgia pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout. Other highlights of the game included a back-to-back-to-back homerun series as Connor Tate, Riley King, and Josh McAllister all went out of the park consecutively. The last time a Bulldog trio went yard in back-to-back-to-back at bats was April 29, 1987, when Georgia played Georgia Tech. The Dawgs beat the nerds that day 9-4.
Saturday’s date with Lipscomb featured senior left-handed pitcher, Ryan Webb, who entered the game 2-0. After the second shutout of the weekend, he gained his third win, and the Dawgs headed into Sunday with a sweep in mind. Come Sunday at 1 pm, Georgia went up 2-0, and were looking to hold onto a series shutout, twenty-seven innings of zero runs for the opposers. Unfortunately, the Lipscomb Bison rallied for a two-run 9th inning, forcing extras. In the bottom of the 12th, Ben Anderson hit a one-out single. Following a wild pitch, he advanced to second, and Lipscomb elected to intentionally walk Corey Collins, creating a force out at all bases. Enter Connor Tate. With two men on, Tate hit a walk-off base hit, tallying his second career walk-off and the Dawgs fourth on the year.
Women’s Tennis
On the tennis court, the 3rd ranked Bulldogs handed No. 19 LSU a 4-0 sweep on Friday. This was the tenth win for the ladies’ tennis team to their one loss. It also hoisted them to a 4-1 record against top-25 opponents and 6-0 in conference play.
In doubles, the Bulldogs took home their eleventh-straight doubles point with a 6-3 win from Lea Ma and Meg Kowalski. Freshman Ariana Arseneault and Katarina Jokic also defeated No. 14 Eden Richardson and Nina Geissler 6-3 for their third win against top-25 doubles opponents. Ma was first to finish her singles match with a 7-5, 6-3 win. Junior Meg Kowalski clinched her 20th straight singles win after besting Paris Corley 6-3, 7-5. Jokic clinched the sweep with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 win over No. 41 Taylor Bridges. Jokic is now five wins away from 100 career wins and 4-0 against top-50 opponents this season.
Men’s Tennis
The 20th ranked Bulldogs had a weekend double-header in the state of Alabama, facing Alabama on Friday and Auburn, Sunday. On Friday, after dropping the doubles point to the Crimson Tide, the Dawgs battled back, claiming four singles wins. Sophomore No. 6 singles Erik Grevelius clinched the win for the bulldogs after his 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 6-2 victory. The Bulldogs moved to 7-4 on the season and 2-4 in the SEC.
Following the thriller in Tuscaloosa, the men travelled to Auburn and beat the Tigers 4-3 in yet another exciting match. Phillip Henning at No. 3 singles provided the clincher in this match, showing a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win. We run this state and Alabama! Great weekend for the Dawgs!
Softball
For the Georgia softball team, winning is the norm, and once again, that proved to be true. The No. 18 Bulldogs hosted the UGA Classic this weekend. Friday featured a contest with Eastern Carolina, and Georgia won a 3-0 two-hit shutout, giving the Dawgs their first win on the weekend.
Georgia then played a double-header on Saturday, beating Eastern Carolina again. The Bulldog’s Lacey Fincher hit a walk-off grand slam to top ECU 6-2 in nine innings. The latter game was also highlighted by Fincher as she blasted another homerun in their 7-1 win against North Dakota.
Finally, Sunday came and went with another Georgia shut out. Behind Lauren Mathis’ four inning perfect pitching performance, striking out eight batters, the Bulldogs beat North Dakota once again, 4-0. Georgia pushed their winning streak to sixteen games with these four wins this past weekend.
Track and Field
At the NCAAs hosted by Arkansas, Georgia secured two top-five team finishes for the third time in the last four national meets. The men finished with a 35-point performance, leaving them at third while the women finished with 31 points and a fifth place finish.
The men’s performance was highlighted by Matthew Boling’s 20.19 time in the 200m dash. Boling formerly held the school record in this event with a 20.37 time, but his 20.19 time at the NCAAs on Saturday blew his record out of the water. This was the sixth all-time performance in collegiate history, and the fastest recorded time in the world this year, proving the Houston, Texas native is one of the fastest men in the world. Also for the men, Karel Tilga and Kyle Garland finished first and second in the heptathlon, scoring the second and fourth best all-time collegiate scores. A truly dominant performance by the UGA Track and Field program, and to top it off, both the men and women beat out Florida by one point each and one place ahead of them… simply beautiful.
Pretty weather and big time wins in multiple athletics always proves to be a great weekend for the Bulldog Nation! Go Dawgs!!