2008/04/21 - This Week in Georgia Baseball

ATHENS - A look at Georgia's baseball slate for this week.

Georgia Baseball (27-12-1 Overall; 14-3-1 SEC, 1st place)

This Week (4 games)
Tues. vs. Kennesaw State, 5 p.m.
Fri. @ Florida, 6:30 p.m. (SUN-TV)
Sat. @ Florida, 3 p.m. (SUN-TV)
Sun. @ Florida, 1 p.m.

Last Week (4-0-1)

Tues.-Beat East Tennessee State 9-8 in Athens
Wed.-Beat Ga. State 7-5 in Athens
Fri.-Beat LSU 6-3 in Baton Rouge, La.
Sat.-Beat LSU 9-8 in Baton Rouge, La.
Sun-Tied LSU 10-10 in 12 innings in Baton Rouge, La.

Bulldog Team Notes:

Georgia (27-12-1) went 4-0-1 this past week. The Bulldogs own a 3.5 game lead in the Southeastern Conference race with a 14-3-1 league record. Georgia won its sixth straight SEC series including third on the road this season. Georgia ran its SEC winning streak to 10 and then erased a seven-run deficit in the seventh inning to tie LSU this past Sunday 10-10 in 12 innings. The game ended in a tie as Georgia had to fly back home as no inning could start after 4 p.m. due to the SEC travel curfew rule. The Bulldogs are 21-5-1 in their last 27 games and the 14-3-1 league start is the best in school history. Georgia claimed only its second ever series in Baton Rouge. Under head coach David Perno, the Bulldogs had a 12-game SEC winning streak in 2004, a 10-game streak in 2006 and now another 10-game streak in 2008.

Up next, Georgia faces Kennesaw State (21-20) Tuesday in Athens at 5 p.m. and then hits the road again for an SEC series with Florida (25-15, 10-8 SEC). The Bulldogs and Owls have split the first two meetings this year with the road team coming out on top (UGA 12-5 in Kennesaw, KSU 8-6 in Athens). Against UF, the road team has won the last five series and the past three series have been sweeps. Georgia swept the Gators in Gainesville in 2004 and 2006 while Florida took three from the Bulldogs in Athens last year.

Bulldog Player Notes:
Georgia junior shortstop Gordon Beckham, a National Player of the Year candidate, is batting .424 with an NCAA-leading 19 home runs, 60 runs scored and 139 total bases. He has 46 RBI, 13 stolen bases and played solid defense with a .964 FLDG%, making just six errors in 165 total chances. In SEC action, Beckham is batting .424 with 9 home runs and 22 RBI. Also, he is an Academic All-America candidate, majoring in real estate.

Senior All-America closer Joshua Fields became the SEC’s all-time saves leader, notching his school record 34th this past Saturday in a 9-8 win over LSU in Baton Rouge. Fields has not allowed an earned run this season in 20.2 innings. He is 1-1 with a 0.00 ERA and SEC-leading 11 saves with 37 strikeouts and only 11 walks. Opponents are batting just .074 against him. He is on the Midseason watch list for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award which goes to the nation’s top closer. Junior Trevor Holder leads all SEC starters with a 1.91 ERA in league games. For the year, Holder is 5-2 with a 2.15 ERA, and he has been even better in the SEC at 3-1, 1.91 ERA in six starts.