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BSB: Dawgs meet Tide in doubleheader today at Foley Field

Both games are scheduled for nine innings with 45 minutes between games. Foley Field will be cleared between games. Saturday’s first game will be televised on the SEC Network while the second game will be on SECN+. Dave Neal and Chris Burke will call both games for the network. The entire series will be broadcast on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network featuring Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston.

Fans holding tickets for Saturday’s originally scheduled noon game will be admitted only to game one of the doubleheader. Fans with tickets for Friday’s Georgia-Alabama game will be admitted only to the second game of the doubleheader Saturday. The first two games of the series are sold out with limited tickets remaining for Sunday’s contest. To purchase baseball tickets, click on this link: https://gado.gs/bl4

Also, please note for the scheduled promotional giveaways, the first 500 fans to game one of Saturday’s doubleheader will receive a free “It’s Saturday in Athens” flag. The first 500 students attending game two of the Saturday doubleheader will receive a free Georgia t-shirt.

Saturday will mark the SEC home opener for the Bulldogs (18-4, 0-3 SEC) as they play host to the Crimson Tide (18-3, 2-1 SEC).

Georgia travels to Wake Forest on Sunday to face the Demon Deacons in the second round of the NIT

 Georgia (18-16) vs. Wake Forest (21-13)

Date: Sunday, March 24

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Venue: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14.655)

Location: Winston-Salem, N.C.

Series History: UGA leads, 5-3

Last Meeting: UGA, 80-77, on 11/10/23

TV: ESPN (Wes Durham, play-by-play; Cory Alexander, color analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – SiriusXM TBD (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, color analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

• On Nov. 10 in Athens, the second game of the 2023-24 campaign, Noah Thomasson’s 21-point performance led five Bulldogs in double figures in an 80-77 win over Wake Forest.

• With Tuesday’s 78-76 win over Xavier, Georgia improved to 9-8 in games that were one-possession contests in the final 5:00 and 7-5 in matchups that were separated by three points or less in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

• Mike White improved to 9-0 in first-round games of the NCAA Tournament and NIT with Tuesday’s victory over Xavier. All told, White is 14-8 (.636) in the postseason, 6-4 in NCAAs and 8-4 in NITs. 

• Georgia entered the weekend ranked No. 20 nationally in bench scoring at 28.8 ppg. The Bulldogs’ bench has outscored the opponents’ reserves in 27 of 34 games en route to compiling a season scoring margin of +345…or +10.2 ppg.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will trek to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face Wake Forest’s Demon Deacons in the second round of the NIT on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Georgia enters the contest at 18-16 after Tuesday’s 78-76 win over Xavier in Athens. 

That outing continued a common storyline for the Bulldogs this season.

All told, half of Georgia’s 34 contests were one-possession games in the final 5:00. Georgia is 9-8 in those. Of those, 12 were still within three points in the final 30 seconds of regulation. The Bulldogs are 7-5 in those. 

The first of those nail-biters was an 80-77 win over Wake Forest back on Nov. 10 in Athens.

Reflecting on that contest begs the reminder that Georgia was the only Power conference team in the nation that: 1) opened the season with back-to-back matchups against other Power conference programs; and 2) faced Power conference opposition in four of its first five games.

The 2023-24 campaign also has been a streaky one for Georgia, which recorded double-digit winning streaks both overall (10 from No. 24-Jan. 10) and at home (10 from Nov. 11-Jan. 10).

Graduate transfer Noah Thomasson is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 12.7 ppg and also paces Georgia with 24 double-digit and four 20-point performances.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim is scoring at a double-figure pace for the Bulldogs as well at 12.2 ppg, largely due to sporting team-high shooting percentages of .356 from 3-point range and .887 at the free throw line. However, Abdur-Rahim missed the last five games due to an injury, the first DNPs of his career at Georgia. Prior to that, Abdur-Rahim had played in 93 straight contests. 

RJ Melendez upped his scoring average to exactly 10.0 ppg with his 14-point evening against Xavier that also featured four steals.

A balanced offensive attack features four more Bulldogs contributing between 7.2-9.7 ppg.

MTEN: No. 40 Georgia men’s tennis team defeated No. 29 LSU, 4-1, on Friday evening

The Bulldogs (8-9, 2-4 SEC) picked up their seventh win at home after the result. Freshman Niels Ratiu captured the first match-clinching win of his collegiate career by taking down Aleksi Lofman by a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 score on court three. 

“It feels awesome,” Ratiu said. “We had a great battle from everyone on each court. We had great play in doubles, and we had great energy from the team and the crowd from beginning to end, so we were very happy.”

Georgia picked up the doubles point after securing wins on courts two and one. Ryan Colby and Thomas Paulsell came out victorious versus LSU’s (11-6, 1-5 SEC) George Stoupe and Welsh Hotard on court two, 6-2, while Freddy Blaydes and Ratiu defeated No. 75 Aleksi Lofman and Stefan Latinovic on court one, 6-4. Blaydes and Ratiu’s win gave the tandem their third point-clinching win and second over a ranked opponent this year, both good for most on the team. 

🐶🔛🔝

Niels clinches the win for Georgia over No. 29 LSU 🔥 #HeartTeam // #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/DCs1TvRvHG

— Georgia Tennis (@UGAtennis) March 22, 2024

“We had a fantastic doubles point,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “Our play at one and two was incredible. Our guys at number three were down a break early on, but they fought back.”

The Tigers managed to tie the match after a win on court six, but the Bulldogs used their momentum to fight back. No. 58 Colby grabbed the first win in a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 victory on court two over the Tigers’ George Stoupe, earning his eighth win on court two. 

No. 81 Miguel Perez Peña got Georgia to match point after winning his team-best 13th win in straight sets. The junior fell behind in the second-set breaker but rattled off three points in a row to secure the victory. Raitu then clinched the match and gave the Bulldogs their second conference win. 

“Miguel let a couple of match points slide in the second set, but he was able to get that breaker after a couple of opportunities there,” Coach Diaz said. “It was a tough opponent. I’m just super proud of Niels – he did a great job of closing that match out.”

Georgia will return to action at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Sunday, March 24 for a doubleheader, with matches against No. 48 Arkansas at 1:00 p.m. ET and The Citadel at 5 p.m.

No. 40 Georgia 4, No. 29 LSU 1

Doubles competition

1. Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu (UGA) def. No. 75 Aleksi Lofman/Stefan Latinovic (LSU)

6-4*

2. Ryan Colby/Thomas Paulsell (UGA) def. George Stoupe/Welsh Hotard (LSU) 6-2

3. Cyrus Mahjoob/Miguel Perez Peña (UGA) vs. Chen Dong/Julien Penzlin (LSU) 3-4,

unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2*

Singles competition

1. No. 61 Thomas Paulsell (UGA) vs. Stefan Latinovic (LSU) 6-7(8), 3-3, unfinished

2. No. 58 Ryan Colby (UGA) def. George Stoupe (LSU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-3

3. Niels Ratiu (UGA) def. Aleksi Lofman (LSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4*

4. No. 81 Miguel Perez Peña (UGA) def. Alessio Vasquez (LSU) 6-1, 7-6(8)

5. Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) vs. Rudy Ceccon (LSU) 6-4, 0-6, 3-1, unfinished

6. Julien Penzlin (LSU) def. Filipe Costa (UGA) 6-3, 6-3

Order of finish: 6, 2, 4, 3*

Georgia Sports’ Game Schedule This Weekend – March 23, 2024

Today

University of Georgia Gymnastics vs Southeastern Conference

Saturday, March 23

Location: New Orleans, La., Smoothie King Center

University of Georgia Track & Field at Hurricane Collegiate Invitational

Saturday, March 23

Location: Coral Gables, FL

University of Georgia Baseball vs Alabama

Saturday, March 23⋅12:00 – 3:00pm

Location: Athens, Ga., Foley Field

University of Georgia Baseball vs Alabama TV: SEC Network Streaming Audio: https://admin.georgiadogs.com/showcase?Live=4581https://admin.georgiadogs.com/calendar.aspx?game_id=24879&sport_id=1

University of Georgia Softball at Ole Miss

Saturday, March 23⋅4:00 – 6:00pm

Location: Oxford, Miss.

University of Georgia Softball at Ole Miss TV: SECN+ Streaming Video: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=dcf06b54-3f7e-461c-b763-f07d4f2c63c1https://admin.georgiadogs.com/calendar.aspx?game_id=24814&sport_id=13

Sunday

University of Georgia Baseball vs Alabama

Sunday, March 24⋅1:00 – 4:00pm

Location: Athens, Ga., Foley Field

University of Georgia Baseball vs Alabama TV: SECN+ Streaming Audio: https://admin.georgiadogs.com/showcase?Live=4582https://admin.georgiadogs.com/calendar.aspx?game_id=24880&sport_id=1

University of Georgia Men’s Tennis vs No. 45 Arkansas

Sunday, March 24⋅1:00 – 4:00pm

Location: Athens, Ga., Dan Magill Tennis Complex

University of Georgia Men’s Tennis vs No. 45 Arkansas Streaming Video: https://georgiadogs.com/sports/2017/6/17/sports-m-tennis-spec-rel-vid-stream-html.aspxhttps://admin.georgiadogs.com/calendar.aspx?game_id=24759&sport_id=11

University of Georgia Women’s Tennis at Tennessee

Sunday, March 24⋅1:00 – 4:00pm

Location: Knoxville, TN

University of Georgia Softball at Ole Miss

Sunday, March 24⋅2:00 – 4:00pm

Location: Oxford, Miss.

University of Georgia Softball at Ole Miss TV: SECN+ Streaming Video: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=bfc29051-013d-44f1-a5e6-256fea32c9e4https://admin.georgiadogs.com/calendar.aspx?game_id=24815&sport_id=13

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