Baseball weekend wrap: Georgia dominates in four-game sweep

Leadoff hitter Ryan Black singled and advanced to third base on a double from Slate Alford. Both scored on a triple by No. 3 hitter Robbie Burnett, who scored on the next at-bat thanks to a two-run homer from Daniel Jackson.

Georgia left the first inning with a 4-2 lead and kept building from there. UGA outscored UIC 13-1 before the game was called after the sixth inning to ensure UIC made its return flight.

“I liked our swings all day,” UGA coach Wes Johnson said. “Our guys are getting more and more comfortable with their approach that we’ve got them in against certain pitchers.”

Burnett and Alford headlined the dominant weekend for Georgia’s offense. Burnett hit 5 of 13 on the series with eight RBI and three homers. Alford added five extra-base hits and six RBI to an 8-of-14 weekend.

Georgia’s final damage total came in at 51 runs on 52 hits, including 11 homers and 18 walks.

UGA’s bats settled in early in the comfort of their own home on Friday, claiming doubleheader wins of 9-3 and 15-1. Georgia notched a 10-4 win on Saturday, powered by Burnett’s go-ahead three-run homer.

Burnett also debuted a new home run dog mask in the dugout. Georgia hitters had been using a German Shepherd mask to celebrate homers since the tradition started about halfway through last season, but that was swapped for a more accurate bulldog mask on Saturday.

The sweep ended a 10-day stretch with nine games to open UGA’s season. The Bulldogs’ lone loss came in game four of last weekend, a 6-2 decision at UNC Wilmington.

Georgia responded with a 6-4 comeback win over Kennesaw State on Tuesday. An emotional game-winning celebration went viral, and the Bulldogs said they carried that competitive fire into their first weekend in front of home fans.

The Bulldog bullpen covered a couple of poor performances from starting pitchers. Saturday starter Brian Zeldin was chased in the third inning after giving up four earned runs, and Ole Miss transfer JT Quinn did not return to the mound after surrendering two earned runs in the first inning.

Georgia’s non-starters pitched 21.2 of the 31 innings this weekend, surrendering just five earned runs.

“We’ve got to figure out front end of the game, it’s usually the opposite,” Johnson said. “I think our bullpen will continue to carry us, but we’ll figure out the front end of the game.”

Johnson has talked about his pitching staff’s strength in numbers and his plan to lean on depth instead of elite starting pitching. The veteran SEC pitching coach threw 15 different pitchers to get through the weekend, and only two pitched four innings or more.

Johnson will continue to familiarize himself with his staff, which includes 11 transfers, on Wednesday. The Bulldogs will visit Georgia State at 4 p.m. before hosting Florida Gulf Coast in another four-game series, starting at 3 p.m. on Friday.

There shouldn’t be much movement ahead of the Bulldogs in national polls, barring any Sunday upsets. Every team ranked higher than Georgia is expected to finish the weekend with one loss or less.

Georgia Baseball Top Performers - UIC Series

INF Slate Alford - 8-of-14, 6 RBI, 4 R, 4 2B, 1 3B

INF/OF Robbie Burnett - 5-of-13, 8 RBI, 3 HR, 8 R

RHP Leighton Finley - 0 ER, 2 H, 8 K, 2 BB, 5.0 IP

INF/OF Ryland Zaborowski - 6-of-10, 10 RBI, 2 HR, 2 2B

RHP Matthew Hoskins - 0 ER, 2 H, 5 K, 2 BB, 3.2 IP