Georgia gets off the mat, wins series over No. 1 Arkansas
Georgia rolled with the punches of a heavyweight weekend SEC series. The Bulldogs earned a 7-6 win on Sunday in 12 innings to wrap up a two to three series win over No. 1 ranked Arkansas.
Catcher Hunter Henry launched a walk-off home run to close the series. The Bulldogs led going into the ninth inning, but two home runs tied the game late to send it to extra innings.
Henry’s walk off was a popular one. His hard work has endeared him to teammates and his head coach Wes Johnson.
“Henry, man, special player, special player,” Johnson told reporters after the game. “I think he just, he works hard…The thing I think Henry does, he’s got a short memory. You’ve got to have it in our game. The minute you start thinking you’re really good and you quit working, and yeah, and then you keep dwelling on the past, good or bad, and that’s when you’re going to fall. One of the things Henry does is, he always believes he’s going to win, and he did.”
Georgia’s ability to get up showed all weekend
Sunday was Georgia’s fifth walk off of the season, three of those came via home run.
Georgia was pummeled in game one, 13-3. Johnson had a simple message for his squad after Friday’s loss.
“You better bounce back,” Johnson told reporters on Friday night.
Georgia did just that. They won 7-6 on Saturday before closing things out on Sunday. The second-year head coach had confidence that his team would respond to his message over the last two days. It could help forecast success into the later stages of the season.
“You need to play these kind of games at home, and it’s good,” Johnson said. “That’s how you can rebound and not fall victim to getting swept. Our crowd was really good, that helps. Then you just gotta go out and play solid baseball, and we did.”
Key performances
Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch had the hot stick this week. He hit four home runs this week, two in the series with the Razorbacks.
Branch had RBIs in the series. Hunter had praise for Branch’s approach this week in the batter’s box.
“He just works his butt off every single day,” Hunter said. “He’s never too high, never too low. Just the same guy every single day. That’s the beauty of Colby Branch. He’s just the same guy every single day. That’s what we all love about him. I think you can just tell in the way he plays, the way he goes about his business, the way he plays defense. He’s Mr. Consistent.”
Georgia got a win from starter Kolten Smith on Saturday. Smith went five innings, allowed five hits and struck out eight Razorbacks on Saturday.
Finley went longer than any Georgia starting pitcher has in 2025 so far by throwing 5.2 innings. Finley allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out eight hitters to pick up the win. The bullpen soured late but got three and a third innings of work from Brian Zeldin, who earned the win.”
What’s next for Georgia?
The Bulldogs will travel to Truist Park to face in-state rival Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
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