Old Friends: Georgia head coach David Perno and Arizona head coach Andy Lopez
first met while Lopez was head coach at Florida in the late 1990s. In fact, when
Perno was a young assistant at Georgia, the Gators were working out at Foley
Field one Thursday before an SEC series and Lopez saw Perno watching from the
press box. Perno explained he was interested in seeing how Lopez ran practice
and so Lopez invited him to watch from the dugout. Perno became a head coach in
2002, and in 2004, his first game at the College World Series came against the
Arizona Wildcats coached by Lopez. Perno was national coach of the year in 2004
while Lopez has twice earned that honor plus he led Pepperdine to the 1992
national title. Lopez owns a record of 897-558-7 in 25 seasons. He is 210-140-1
in six years at UA while Perno is 206-159 in six years at UGA.
As Far As Openers Go: The Georgia Bulldogs, under the direction of head coach
David Perno, begin their 121st baseball season on Friday with a three-game set
against #1 Arizona. Baseball at Georgia dates back to 1886, and its overall
record is 1,933-1,443-22.
Georgia’s 2008 probable starting lineup will feature seven returning lettermen
plus two transfers. The lineup is led by first team preseason All-America
shortstop Gordon Beckham (.307-13-51 in 2007). Beckham and senior third baseman
Ryan Peisel have started 126 consecutive games. Also, the Bulldogs welcome back
sophomores Rich Poythress (1B), Joey Lewis (C) and Matt Cerione (CF) along with
senior Matt Olson (RF). The newcomers will be second baseman Michael Demperio
(Univ. Texas) and left fielder Adam Fuller (Andrew JC). At DH, Georgia likely
will go with senior Joshua Fields, a preseason third team All-America selection
as a closer. Junior transfer Bryce Massanari (College of Southern Nevada) is an
option at DH too.
The starting rotation for the Bulldogs will feature junior right-handers Trevor
Holder and Stephen Dodson along with left-hander Nathan Moreau.
Last Time Versus #1: Arizona comes to Athens as the preseason #1 team according
to Collegiate Baseball and #2 by Baseball America.Georgia played host to
top-ranked Vanderbilt last May and the Commodores won the series 2-1. Georgia’s
win came in game two of the series, a 7-0 combined shutout by Nathan Moreau (7
IP, 4H, 1BB, 8K) and Trevor Holder (2 IP, 1H, 0BB, 2K). The last time Georgia
won a three-game series over the nation’s #1 team came here in 1993 when it
swept Miss. State.
Series History: Georgia leads the series with Arizona 2-0. Both wins came at the
2004 College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The Bulldogs opened with an 8-7 win
over the Wildcats and then later elminated Arizona with a 3-1 victory.
Play Ball: All Division I-A teams open the 2008 season Feb. 22 as the NCAA put
in place a uniform start date to practice (Feb. 1) and play this year. Northern
schools have long requested these measures, arguing that schools in the Sunbelt
and West Coast had an unfair advantage to preparing for and spreading out their
56-game season.
Did You Know? The last time Georgia opened a season on Feb. 22 came in 2002. It
was the first game of the David Perno era, a 10-8 win over North Carolina at
Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Ga.