ATHENS — Georgia baseball’s second consecutive 5-0 week was far from pretty, but it was strong enough to move up in several national polls Monday.
The Bulldogs (13-1) moved up one spot to No. 5 in D1Baseball’s poll, used by ESPN’s broadcasts. They also moved up a spot to No. 9 in Baseball America’s rankings and stayed the No. 3 team in Perfect Game’s top 25.
UGA swept Florida Gulf Coast with four walk-off victories last weekend, finishing with a game-ending homer over the Foley Field scoreboard Sunday. Georgia also beat Georgia State 7-3 on Wednesday, the first of four comeback wins on the week.
The Bulldogs have won 10 consecutive games after an early 6-2 loss to the team that earned the No. 2 seed in the 2024 Athens Regional.
UGA’s 14 games played are the most by any SEC team. Georgia coach Wes Johnson said he loaded a heavy schedule on the front end to get to know his roster as best he could before the SEC season began.
“I think we’re still learning a lot,” Johnson said. “I scheduled so many games early to try to figure out a lot about our team, so I think we’re getting there.
“What you’re seeing with a lot of your mid-major teams now is they’re giving you a lot of different looks off the mound that you may not see in SEC play.”
Most top-10 teams moved up at least one spot after unanimous No. 1 Texas A&M lost three games last week. The Aggies dropped out of the top 10 in all three polls mentioned above after losses to Texas State, Arizona and Oklahoma State.
Tennessee leapfrogged Georgia and LSU in the Perfect Game poll to be the new No. 1 team. The defending national champions went 3-0 last weekend in a tournament at Daikin Park, home to the Houston Astros.
Baseball America ranked the Volunteers (11-0) No. 1 while D1Baseball put them at No. 2 behind LSU. Tennessee has looked like the most complete team in the SEC — and arguably the country — through three weeks.
LSU and Arkansas remain ahead of Georgia in the D1Baseball poll while Florida is two spots behind at No. 7.
The Tigers (11-1) got a strong midweek win over Dallas Baptist last Wednesday before beating Kansas State, Nebraska and Sam Houston State on the weekend. The Razorbacks (10-1) went 4-0 with a weekend sweep of Charlotte.
The Gators (11-1) took their first loss of the season against Miami but beat the Hurricanes twice for a weekend series win.
There are five SEC teams in D1Baseball’s top 10 and 12 in the entire top 25. Here’s a look at where those 12 stand.
1. LSU (11-1)
2. Tennessee (11-0)
3. Arkansas (10-1)
5. Georgia (13-1)
7. Florida (11-1)
12. Texas (9-1)
13. Oklahoma (11-0)
14. Texas A&M (6-4)
17. Ole Miss (10-1)
18. Vanderbilt (8-3)
22. Auburn (11-1)
23. Alabama (12-0)
Georgia starts SEC action in 11 days hosting Kentucky on March 14-16. The Wildcats swept the Bulldogs in Lexington last season to open conference play.
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