May 21, 2009

CBI Live
'Dawgs stay unbeaten

By Vince Ferrara

examiner.com

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

In Game 7 of the SEC Baseball Tournament at Regions Park, the No. 6-seed Georgia Bulldogs (37-20) moved to 2-0 with a win over the No. 7-seed Arkansas Razorbacks (33-21) 2-1 in 10 innings Thursday night. This puts Georgia in the driver's seat to earn a spot in Sunday's SEC Championship Game. Georgia gets Friday off and would have to lose twice on Saturday to not get in the title game.

With the game tied at 1, Georgia loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 10th inning. DH Joey Lewis' (0 for 5, RBI) groundout to third brought home Matt Cerione from third base on a close play at the plate to score the winning run. Cerione then sprinted to Lewis off first who was mobbed by his teammates in celebration of the dramatic Bulldogs win. Arkansas reliever Stephen Richards (5-1) took the loss, his first of the year.

It was good ole fashioned baseball between Georgia and Arkansas. Pitching and defense were outstanding for both teams. Both teams flashed their gloves frequently to take away hits. The two starters, Georgia's Trevor Holder (right) and Arkansas' Brett Eibner, combined to pitch 14 innings, allowing 10 hits, two runs, walked only four and striking out eight.

"I thought Holder was outstanding," said Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn. "He was really mixing his change-up to our left-handed hitters and then he started throwing it to our right-handers. He'd show us some breaking balls and spotted his fastball."

Two relievers, Georgia's Dean Weaver (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R) and Arkansas' TJ Forrest (2 IP, 0 H, O R) were effective as well. Weaver (4-2) picked up the win in relief.

The difference in Georgia's favor may well have been the return to form of their best player, first-baseman Rich Poythress. Poythress has been slumping over the last few weeks. His coach said earlier this week that they needed him to be his great self for the team to win. He went 3 for 5 today and his coach opened the press conference after the game acknowledging him.

"We finally got Rich," said Georgia head coach David Perno. "Welcome back Rich."

Georgia will next play Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT versus either LSU, South Carolina or Vanderbilt. The winners that advance to Saturday flip bracket positions, thus the new teams that could match-up with Georgia.

(photo by Jimmy Jones)