Diamond Dawg weekly recap: Georgia ends five-game losing streak, earns the series win against the Sooners

Following a tough five-game skid, the Georgia Bulldogs finally found themselves back in the win column during their weekend series against the Oklahoma Sooners. Before the series, the Diamond Dawgs had been struggling on the road as they were swept by the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville and fell to the Clemson Tigers on Tuesday night. With that being said, the return to Foley Field was much-needed for Georgia.

Game one of the series against Oklahoma went down to the wire as both teams were making things happen at the plate. The Diamond Dawgs were down 8-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, where they would eventually get their bats going with Ryland Zaborowski, Nolan McCarthy, and Kolby Branch all having big hits in the inning to put things at 8-6 going into the ninth. While the Dawgs’ pitching staff was able to keep the Sooners’ bats quiet in the top half of the inning, there would be no more late-game magic left in the tank for Georgia, as they would fall to a final score of 8-6.

Game two would be another exciting game in terms of how back-and-forth things were offensively, as this one also went down to the very end. Slate Alford got the party started for the Dawgs’ offense early, blasting a solo homer in the bottom of the first.

Alford would have another big hit in the bottom half of the second, hitting a bases-clearing double to extend Georgia’s lead to 6-0. A few innings later in the bottom of the fifth, Tre Phelps would get in on the fun as he mashed a 3-run homer to put Georgia’s lead at 9-2.

The Dawgs would tack on one more in the bottom of the seventh as Cade Brown scored Robbie Burnett on an RBI double to put things at 10-7 going into the eighth. Oklahoma would battle till the very end offensively, taking the Dawgs’ pitching staff into deeper waters. Fortunately, Georgia would hold on for a 10-9 win, ending a five-game losing streak.

Game three of the series concluded on Saturday in what was a game fueled by the long ball for the Dawgs. Kolby Branch launched two homers on the day while Robbie Burnett and Bren Hudson also added a couple of their own.

The homers would prove to be enough as the Dawgs’ pitching staff was a little more settled in during game three as Leighton Finley turned in a solid start. Finley turned in five innings on the mound, striking out seven, and allowing just two runs within that frame. Georgia’s bullpen would eventually close things out for the eventual series win by a final score of 6-3.

The Diamond Dawgs now sit with a 12-9 record in conference play to go with their total record of 35-11. Georgia will now gear up to play the in-state Kennesaw State Owls at Foley Field tomorrow night before loading up and making their way to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Missouri Tigers, with the series set to begin on Friday.

That’s all for this edition of Diamond Dawg weekly recap. As always, Go Dawgs!!